Mistake
by jimmycranberry
Summary: It was the biggest mistake of my life. And now, everyone is paying for it. It's time to put things right. It's just a shame the rest of the world went straight to hell. Shamelessly Tikku, mature themes. AU
1. Prologue: Under the Stars

_A/N: So, welcome to my first fanfiction. I hope you find it up to standard, but if not, feel free to let me know, as I much appreciate any constructive criticism you can offer. I hope to use this story as a learning exercise, so any that I may or may not write in the future could be up to a greater standard. Enjoy!_

_**Summary:** It was the biggest mistake of my life. And now, everyone is paying for it. It's time to put things right. It's just a shame the rest of the world went straight to hell. Shamelessly Tikku, mature themes. AU_

_I plan to use flashbacks in future chapters to explain the back-story, however the 'present-day' events will all take place in the X-2 time-frame._

* * *

_Mistake_

_Prologue: Under the Stars_

I made a mistake.

So sue me. Nobody's perfect. It had made sense at the time; Summoner sad, give her a kiss, make her happy. For a while, at least. Hell, I quite enjoyed making this mistake. It was fun, being able to escape from the world, just the two of us, and pretend it's all okay.

But it wasn't okay. We had a job to do. I just never meant for it to go that far.

I thought that, maybe, if I gave her a glimmer of light, of hope, it could keep her going. She was so down, and I honestly believed that one little push, one little kiss, would make it all okay and it would all be sugar and rainbows and then we would kill Sin an-

And then what? A moot point now, I know, but humour me here. Let me hate myself a bit more for what I did.

I suppose you could say that what I did worked. It got her out of the dumps, and we made it to Zanarkand like the Abes climbed to the top of the league. And in case you didn't know, that was _fast_. Like Clasko-just-saw-some-tail-feather fast.

But I'm getting sidetracked here. We made it to Zanarkand, killed Sin, _without_ killing Yuna. Yeah, we're awesome, y'know? But at what cost? Yuna may be all into that self sacrifice shit, but, in case you didn't notice, I'm not. If it's going to get someone hurt, then don't do it (unless they deserve it. Fucking Seymour). Which is why I'm asking you all this. Because it did hurt her, and now... well, now I can't stop that hurt. If I could, I would, but there ain't much you can do from the farplane.

I guess I kept putting it off, y'know? If I didn't grab the problem by the proverbial horns, then it wouldn't come back to bite me. And it didn't bite me. It bit _her_. Even worse, it didn't just bite her. You see, there was something that had been kept hidden from her, from all the others, that whole time. And it is the reason that I hate myself even more.

Because it wasn't okay. But not for Yuna, for _her_. Because I may have kissed her, that night in Macalania, under the stars in what remains to this day the most beautiful and romantic locale I have ever visited, but that night I made the biggest mistake of my life.

I kissed her. I made it okay.

But I betrayed the one that really mattered.

She may not have been much to the world, but she was the world to me.

So why do I tell you all of this now, here, in between the worlds of the living and the dead. Yeah, strange, isn't it. I suppose, being a dream, I was never quite alive anyway, so why should I be allowed into the afterlife. I suppose I don't deserve it, anyway. Regardless, I tell you this now because I can feel the boundaries shifting. Heck, I've started to get glimpses of the outside world. Small ones, but glimpses nonetheless. And I'm not sure I like what I see.

She's ignoring it.

Why does she have to be so noble? But that would stop her being who she is. It would stop her being the woman I love. It doesn't stop me wishing she would tell her, on my behalf, though. Get it all out there, and stop us having to lie. She was always better at these kind of things than me, anyway. Not particularly eloquent, but she got the point across.

So now they're heading off on this quest. I would be flattered, if I didn't feel so damn guilty about it. But hey, maybe it'll bring me back, from wherever I am, stuck here in the void between the two existences. Just maybe.

Heh, I wish.

So here I find myself, watching them as they watch a recording of what looks like me, contemplating life, the universe, and everything. Now bear with me here. You see, I've been womdering just what kind of effect one life can have. One wittle life. If I were to return, what difference would it make, in the long run? Could I truly improve their lives? Or would my coming back make it even worse for them? Do I truly deserve another chance to correct my mistake, even after all those other chances that I simply passed by?

Well, I guess we'll find out.


	2. Chapter 1: Dra Bnacdeka

_A/N: This is an edited version of the original first chapter. Some of the formatting got ruined,_

_I suppose I should clarify a few point before continuing. This will be written pretty much entirely from Tidus' POV. For the most part, chapters will consist of present day events in standard font, and flashbacks written in italics. In case you didn't catch it in the prologue, the present-day events of this story began with the prologue to FFX-2, which was included in FFX: International Edition. Youtube it if need be._

_Al Bhed is always followed by its translation. This will be kept consistent throughout the story. Many thanks to Stefan Gagne and his translator._

_As a side note, did anyone catch the FFXIII reference in the previous chappie? Thought I'd slip one in there._

_One final thing – I might be a little optimistic in estimating that I will be making weekly updates, but hey, we'll see how it goes._

_Anyway, here is the first chapter. Hope you enjoy it!_

* * *

_**Arc One**_

_Mistake_

_Chapter 1: Dra Bnacdeka_

The pyreflies approached slowly, cautiously, as if they were afraid of getting too close. I watched them calmly from where I... sat? No. How to put it into words... where I _existed_ is about as close as I can define it really. I have no form, yet I can see, hear, and even, in a strange way, feel.

Regardless, I watched them calmly. As they got closer, they began to coalesce, more and more of them, until the light became blinding and the sound deafening. I would have blocked my vision if I were capable, but hey, no arms or eyelids here, ya?

The light and noise from the pyreflies died instantaneously. In their place was a little boy. One I recognised only too well.

"Bahamut." I greeted, with a mental nod.

"Tidus." The boy, Bahamut, responded in kind.

"So, I would offer you somewhere to sit, but that would imply that I know where we are. If where we are is anywhere. Sort of."

The boy chuckled. "I'm glad you understand," he said, "it saves me quite a bit of explaining and commiserating. We had no doubt you would be confused as to your situation, and were worried that your imagination had run away with you. I had a great many scenarios in my head, ranging from you believing you were on the farplane to being Sin."

I blanched. "But I'm not Sin, right? Sin's gone."

"That it is."

"Phew." I relaxed.

"But that's not to suggest your situation is in any way promising." I deflated. "However, you can be rest assured we're working on a more permanent solution."

"Oh?" I perked up.

"Your position is unique. Never before has one like yourself existed here. You are like us, yet you are not. Peculiar, you will agree?" I nodded, beginning to wonder whether Bahamut got some kind of sadistic pleasure from taking me on this emotional roller-coaster. "A solution may yet present itself. Equally, you may be trapped here for eternity. We will see."

"You said you are working on a solution." I stated, hoping yet fearing his answer.

"I suppose it was an incorrect choice of words. I should have said that there are those who are working on something that may lead to a solution for your situation. That which they are working on is not entirely within our control. We will let you know when more information arises. In the meantime, know this. The boundaries are thinning."

And with that, he disappeared.

"Wait, what boundaries? Who are these people and what are they working on? Hello?" I gave a mental sigh. "Bugger."

The fayth had always baffled me. I suppose eternal existence yet a lack of a physical form, only ever able to influence from the shadows, would do that to a person. And I thought I was world-weary. I prayed to whatever deities there may be that I would never end up like them, a shell of my former self.

"At least he implied that he would return," I reassured myself. Yeah, I'm getting lonely here. Who wouldn't? The only companionship is your own conscience, and when you and your conscience are on the outs, it gets bad.

Something stirring in front of me brought me out of my thoughts. A shifting current seemed to ebb and flow, localised solely in the space directly in front of me. The current stretched, beginning to show flashes, scenes from another world. I did not panic, as similar occurrences had happened before, giving me a glimpse into the world outside of the one I found myself in. I could see Yuna, telling Wakka and Lulu that she would be leaving Besaid. They don't look happy. I suppose they're annoyed that she would have the audacity to break out from under their wings. Protective lot, they are. Maybe they're disappointed in themselves, believing that she's leaving because she needs something that they can't provide. Yeah, that makes more sense. After the pilgrimage, I'd be shocked if she was content to sit at home all day, making nice with the islanders (however pleasant they are, they can be rather boring. I mean, what kind of adventures can you get up to on such a small island, anyway?) and doing the occasional bit of publicity and/or diplomatic work for what I could hear her calling New Yevon (How do they still exist? Don't they realise that they were wrong about everything? I swear, it's the same faces, with simply a swanky new name).

The scene in front of me changed. I could see Brother talking to another Al Bhed man, with a small child in a full-body suit typing away on a keyboard in the background. Behind all of them, I could see an enormous airship, looming threateningly over them all. Someone must have arrived, because the two men turned to look at someone out of shot.

It was _her_.

She began chirping away to them in Al Bhed, in that happy-go-lucky way that she goes about everything these days. I suppose I should be resentful. Now I'm gone, suddenly she's rather pleased with the world? But I'm not. I'm worried. And so is everyone else who truly knows her. That's why she tries so hard.

She tells them that she had managed to convince 'Yunie' to come along, and it was just a case of getting all the equipment up and running. There's a lot of kit in that workshop, and I wonder if they plan on starting this new job sometime in the next decade.

How do I know what they're saying, you ask? After all, they're speaking Al Bhed! Well, I guess this is another case of me being deceptive and hiding things from my friends. It all began on that first night with the salvage crew. Oh yes, you didn't think I only spent the one night with them, do you?

No, it took a lot of work to get that big-ass airship located, let alone beginning the preparations for removing it from the sea. Anyway, here's what happened.

* * *

_Dra Bnacdeka {The Prestige}, 1 mile East of Baaj Temple._

_8.14pm_

_It had been a long day's work. Particularly considering I hadn't eaten since before Blitzoff back in Zanarkand. I was eternally grateful that the fluctuations in the undersea currents rendered it unsafe to work outside of the six-hour window that had just finished. Still, spending the best part of 6 hours underwater is enough to do anyone's head in. I guess that's why I was such an easy target._

_"Uid uv dra fyo, baycyhd." The man snapped, pushing me away as I lined up for some food. {Out of the way, peasant.}_

_"Hey!" I cried as I fell to the floor, winding myself. I heard laughter from behind me. As I spun toward the voice, a boot suddenly decided to slam into my face, making a very unpleasant crunching sound as it connected, before the floor got in on the action once more. Through the haze that had now surrounded all my senses, I could hear more laughter, now on all sides._

_"Shit," I spat, my senses slowly returning. And how I wished they hadn't, because that _hurt_, dammit._

_"Baycyhd-puo drehgc ra lyh talaeja ic? Hu, fa ghuf aqyldmo fryd ra ec. Y tendo Oajuheda, dryd'c fryd!" There was much jeering at this, and I felt the splatter of food on my back. Seems someone felt it necessary to chuck their unwanted leftovers on me. How kind. {Peasant-boy thinks he can deceive us? No, we know exactly what he is. A dirty Yevonite, that's what!}_

_"E drehg ed'c desa fa bid drec tendo Oajuheda eh rec bmyla," another said, beginning to close in on me. I could see his hand slowly droppign to the hunting knife strapped to his thigh. _Shit_, I thought, _never thought I'd go this way_.{I think it's time we put this dirty Yevonite in his place.}_

_"CDUB!" {STOP!}_

_The men parted, allowing the girl to enter. Rikku, I think she said her name was. I can't be too sure though, it was a lot to take in. And I'm still starving._

_"Oui femm hud myo y vehkan uh res! Ra ec so nacbuhcepemedo. Yht syng so funtc, ev oui tu duilr res, E femm cruf oui zicd fryd E lyh tu." She said this is all a low, manacing tone, glaring at each man in turn. A few of them looked chastised, but most simply leered back. {You will not lay a finger on him! He is my responsibility. And mark my words, if you do touch him, I will show you just what I can do.}_

_"Oui drehg oui lyh cdub ic?" One of the men asked, stalking toward her from her right-hand side.{You think you can stop us?}_

_"Oac," She stated simply, as if she were remarking about the weather. I suddenly feared for the man. Well, I say feared. I began to anticipate his downfall, more likely. {Yes.}_

_As he got within range of her, he launched a highly telegraphed punch at her face with his left arm. She sidestepped nimbly, letting his arm pass her. Once he was at full stretch, she grabbed onto his wrist with her left, holding it in place, before fiercely ramming the butt of her right wrist directly onto the outside of his elbow joint. The snap it made, muffled slightly by his screaming and the shocked exclamations of his companions, will live long in my memory._

_She let go of his wrist, and he immediately cradled his left arm with his right, before making a beeline for where I assumed the medical wing was situated. The majority of his companions followed in stiff silence._

_"Brother, fro teth'd oui bnajahd drec?" She asked the tall man to her left. He was the same man who had handed me a pair of goggles and ordered me into the sea. Ergo, I didn't like him. {Brother, why didn't you prevent this?}_

_"Ra ec hud fundr ed." And I don't think he liked me either, judging by the look on his face. With those words, and one last contemptuous look in my direction, he departed in the same direction as the others. The remaining men left with him. {He is not worth it.}_

_"You okay?" She asked me, turning toward me and kneeling. "You look like a wreck."_

_"And I feel like one,"I agreed. "But you won't see me near whatever infirmary you have here unless I'm on my death bed."_

_"Hmm," she mumbled, scratching her chin, "I guess I have some supplies." She suddenly looked up at me, a bright smile on her face. "Come on, I'll patch ya up in no time!" With that, she grabbed my hand and hauled me to my feet, dragging us off to who knows where. At least it was in a different direction to where all the others went._

_"Here we are, room sweet room." She chirped, shoving open a heavy steel door and dragging me through the threshold. It was... cosy. A small cot, a two-by-two wooden desk pushed up against the adjacent wall, and a padded chair on wheels sitting in the middle. Stuffed in the corner next to the door was a wardrobe and a small washbasin. This is where she led me._

_"Let's get you cleaned up first," she said, reaching to the top of the wardrobe to retrieve a small metal case. She opened it, revealing that it contained first aid supplies. She took out a cotton bud and ran it under the tap for a few seconds before bringing it to my cheek._

_"Ow!" I exclaimed, reeling back from her and the evil cotton bud in protest, "that hurt!"_

_"Don't be a baby," she said tiredly, "the quicker I can get it cleaned up the sooner I can stitch you back together and we can both get some dinner."_

_That perked me right up, and I stood there, only wincing a little, as she rinsed the cut beneath my eye, before moving on to my forehead. Now that I could get a good look at myself, I could see just what she meant by saying I 'looked like a wreck'. She just about hit the nail on the head, really. I was a mess._

_"All clean!" she exclaimed, sounding quite relieved, "now for the hard part." With that, she removed a small needle and a length of wire. My gut clenched in impending doom._

_"Lnyb," she seemed to curse, as her needle slipped. I flinched at the unexpected pain. It seems washing my cuts had led to them being quite slick, and therefore her needle lacked any purchase on my skin. {Crap}_

_"Cunno," she said to me, before catching herself. "Sorry."_

_"It's okay."_

_"You know, if you're going to spend any significant amount of time with us, you should probably learn Al Bhed. It would help to keep the others off your back, too!" This idea had perked her up considerably._

_"What, the whole language? That'll take years!" I exclaimed, shocked that she thought I could learn such a thing so fast._

_"No, no, no. I can teach you a few basics, enough to get by and put you in a good position to learn some more." As she was saying this, she finished up the last of the stitching with a flourish. "There! All done!"_

_"Thanks Rikku." Seemed I had remembered her name right, as she showed no adverse reaction at me saying it. "And I suppose it would be useful to know some basic things. Like 'food' and 'now, please'." I winked at her._

_"Alright, I get the picture. Jeez, what is it with a man and his stomach!" She jested, though I thought, just for a second, that I could see a faint blush. It must have been a trick of the light, however, as, once she turned around and grabbed my wrist once more, her face looked quite clear._

_"Follow me! Though you will have to learn your way around soon enough. It's not too hard. I mean, that's Brothers room there," here she pointed across me towards a door on the other side of the hall to hers as I stepped through her doorway once more, "and that's Kippal's – he's the guy who kicked you," now she pointed to a door closer to the canteen, "and down that corridor next to Kippal's room are all the other rooms. See, not that hard, is it?"_

_"We'll see," I said resignedly, "you've yet to see the lengths to which my brain will go to get me lost. It's truly impressive."_

_"Well, it did manage to get you into that situation an hour ago. That takes some doing!" She laughed._

_"I'm glad my getting beat up is funny." I tried to look down, but there was a smile tugging at the corner of my mouth._

_"You're welcome!" She chirped, bouncing on the spot. I couldn't take it any more after that, and let loose a very manly, testosterone-filled giggle. Yep._

_By now, we reached the canteen. It was empty bar the kitchen staff. She took me through all the dishes, explaining what they were and what they tasted like. I may have slightly had an information overload and simply pointed to one that looked pretty and said "That one." Luckily, it tasted great._

_As we sat opposite each other at a table, she began. "Right, the first thing you need to know about he Al Bhed language it that it uses the same construction as regular Spiran. That's 'coz they're both derived from Old Spiran, which in turn is derived from Ancient Bevellian. Anyways, I got sidetracked. What this similarity means is that you can use the same word order for Al Bhed as you would for Spiran. Simple!" It most definitely wasn't 'simple', but I humoured her. "Now the pronunciation of words, on the other hand, is really different. Were you to read Al Bhed in the same way as you would Spiran, your pronunciation would be everywhere and no-one would understand a word you'd said. Worse, they'd laugh at you. So that's where we'll start."_

_And start we did. 2 hours later, I'd had enough of the Al Bhed 'Ah, Bae, Ku's' to last me a lifetime. Or a day, at least. After we finished up, with her congratulating me on a good session. I just wanted to hit the sack, so I was eternally grateful when she showed me to my room with one further comment about an early wakeup the next day. Fantastic. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow._

_She wasn't kidding about that early wakeup. After what felt like 5 nanoseconds, she was poking me in the shoulder telling me it was time to get up. After dragging myself to the washbasin and cleaning up (they had been kind enough to leave some grooming materials), I worked my way to the canteen._

_It was fairly busy, so I was reassured that it wasn't just myself and Rikku that needed to be up so early. To my satisfaction, the man who had tried to hit Rikku yesterday had his arm in a sling and was looking decidedly worse for wear. He didn't look at all apologetic though. I wondered as to the group dynamics about the ship for a moment, before moving my mind on swiftly before I got too caught up in it. I had more important things to think about. Namely, breakfast._

_After getting my food, I sat down next to Rikku - who didn't have an occupied desk within ten yards of her - and she gave me a quick brush-up on last night's lesson. Apparently, we had a meeting to attend with regards to the salvage plan for the day. And, predictably, it would be taken entirely in Al Bhed. Bollocks. Luckily, Rikku offered herself to act as my translator. However, she didn't anticipate having to provide as much input into the meeting as she did. Thus, I was left on the sidelines to observe her discussing a plan of action with the other Al Bhed, with simply the occasional comment about what had been discussed when she had a moment. The end result of it was that I left the meeting even more confused than I entered it._

_Rikku explained to me as we left that the plan was to do a pattern sweep of the area, in order to observe all potential locations and see if we might just spot the airship (for that was apparently what we had been searching. I could've done with knowing that a little sooner, probably). This would go on for a maximum of two working days and, if it could not be found in that time, a new plan of action would be chosen._

_It didn't work._

_As I sat on the cot in my room that afternoon, nursing a jagged cut given to me by a particularly enthusiastic piranha, I pondered the day. I had once more been working without rest, being their little worker-bitch as the others sat around doing fuck-all. Luckily, Rikku had decided to tag along with me the whole day, perhaps making sure I didn't get too-overworked (though I do wonder at what her definition of over-worked is). It was doubly fortunate as, without her there, I probably would be nursing losing my entire blade-arm, rather than just cleaning a cut (albeit a fairly deep one)._

_We had performed a large part of the search pattern to no avail. The remainder would be undertaken tomorrow. If that failed, well, maybe it's time to give up (at least I thought so – I didn't voice this for fear of getting my head bitten off. After all, how important can one measly airship be, eh? They were all over Zanarkand). I just hoped that, once this was all done with, they would take me back to Zanarkand. Or what's left of it... it did seem to be quite a ruin. Sin really did a number on it._

_After another tricky session of basic Al Bhed study - in which I learnt how to greet people, tell them what my name is, and ask a few basic questions to which there could only be two answers: yes or no – myself and Rikku found ourselves in her room, me sitting on her chair and her lying back on her bed, arms behind her head, gazing at the ceiling._

_"Say Rikku," I began._

_"Yeah?"_

_I wanted to ask her where we were. I wanted to ask her why I'd never heard of the Al Bhed before. And above all, I wanted to ask her what had happened to Zanarkand. However, I didn't get to ask her any of these questions, as, at that moment, Brother burst into the room, shouted "Fa vuiht ed!" excitedly, and jogged off down the corridor. Rikku sprang to her feet, and was at the doorway before she turned around and said "We found it!", before continuing on her jog down the hall. I leapt up to follow her._

_I found her in the meeting room from earlier, pouring over charts which clearly silhouetted the shape of a Zanarkand-class airship, sitting on the sea bed and looking quite buried beneath various underwater plants. It was decided that myself and Rikku would head down first thing the next morning and try to get the power started on some ruins situated next to the airship, in an effort to illuminate the area and perhaps find a way to dislodge it safely._

_"Well, I guess it's just us again, eh?" I asked Rikku as we moved on back toward where our rooms were._

_"Yeah, seems to always be that way, doesn't it?" She replied, letting a soft smile flit across her face._

_"Goodnight, Tidus."_

_"Goodnight Rikku."_

* * *

After that, you know the story. We swim down, fight weird octopus thing, get the lights on, see airship, return to deck. I get left outside, she brings me some dinner, and we talk. I find out just how fucked I am, Sin attacks, and I fall off the deck. I would not forget the kindness that Rikku had shown me in that short time, though, for I could truly say that she was my first friend on this aggravating slab of rock called Spira.

I was brought out of my reverie by some cursing from the images in front of me. It seems Rikku had just cuffed Brother and Buddy upside the head.

"Some things never change," I laughed.

* * *

_A/N: This was completely un-beta'd, so I hope there are no spelling/ grammar issues. If you spot any, then let me know. Cheers!_


	3. Chapter 2: Prejudice

_A/N: I apologize for the delay in the release of this chapter. University work will always take priority, I'm afraid. This kind of time between chapters will likely only worsen as we approach Christmas, as work is really piling on. However, I hope you enjoy what I have been able to release._

_Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure I haven't acquired the rights to FFX or X-2 over the last few days. Let me check... … … No._

* * *

_Mistake_

_Chapter 2: Prejudice_

The images had stopped shortly after displaying the scene by the airship, leaving no suggestion that they have ever been there. Blackness returned for an indeterminate time.

The atmosphere was conductive to self reflection. I guess I'd been doing a lot of that recently. Oh well, not much to do but continue, eh?

When I first arrived here, I couldn't be sure how or why I got here. I may have panicked, slightly. But hey, who wouldn't when the last thing you remember is falling off an airship and high-fiving your Dad in mid-air, who also so happens to have been the previous (and hopefully final) incarnation of the all-terrorising Sin? Yeah, doesn't happen every day, does it?

Speaking of my Old Man, I wonder how he's doing these days. After all the shit he took, he deserves to have moved onto the far plane to be with Mum. Poor sod. Oh well, there's nothing I can do about it. Nothing but hope.

Well, there's a thought. Because that's kind of the situation that I'm in too. If only the images hadn't left, then I wouldn't have to think about the hole I'd dug myself into. And what a deep hole it was. I just have to hope that someone throws me a rope.

Without anything to keep me busy, the time both crawled and flew by. Time here was completely indeterminate – I could have waited for hours, days, weeks or even months, but the only way I could ever know is if those fucking images fucking came back and showed me what the fuck was going-

The pyreflies were coming.

I waited on baited breath, desperate to hear the latest bit of news that the fayth had for me. They couldn't form quickly enough.

"Come on!" I shouted. "Hurry Up!"

The pyreflies finally completed their merging, but it was to a form I was momentarily unfamiliar with. However, the familiar haunted look in her eye jogged my memory.

"So rude of you," Seymour's mother chastised me calmly, "I tell you, the youth of today really leave much to be desired with regards to manners."

"Madame Jyscal, please, please forgive me for your son-"

"My son deserved to die for what he did. I have no quarrel with you, boy, and I will thank you for not reminding me again." Her tone had become ice-cold, clipped to perfection, belying her past as a member of the Spiran aristocracy. "I am not here to listen to you beg for forgiveness for something for which you are and shall remain blameless. Now, I have news.

"The boundaries are thinning. You will notice an upturn in activity around you, for the most part in the form of additional visions of current events." She spoke briskly, as if she would rather not be here but had to be here nonetheless. I couldn't blame her, but it didn't stop me resenting her. I had so many questions- "We fayth will also likely be making more regular visits to you, due to a recent surge in action by those responsible."

"These people, who are they? And Bahamut didn't explain what you mean by 'boundaries'." I enquired rapidly, barely able to restrain myself from attempting to grab her and shake the answers out of her. Although that would be tricky, considering I had no physical presence. Hmmm.

"That is for us to know and you to find out, in time." She responded, smirking at my indignation. The fayth really do get on your nerves. Must be the whole eternity thing. "In the meantime, enjoy your viewing." With that, she dissipated. Did I mention that the fayth are infuriating?

"Bitch," I sighed. I suppose it was time to return to my musings.

I have wondered for a long time about the capabilities of the fayth. For instance, they visited me in Zanarkand, the day my world went to hell in a hand-basket all around me. They also visited me in my dreams, that day on Mt. Gagazet when I found out that it is I, in fact, that is the dream. In the dream Zanarkand, Bahamut appeared capable of stopping time in a localised area, and seemed able to predict the future. Then again, was it the future, or had the fate of the dream Zanarkand been predetermined?

These abilities now lead me to this argument: why didn't they destroy Sin themselves? Was it perhaps that they were restricted in their actions where Sin was concerned. Was this why they didn't stop Operation Mi'hen from taking place? Or maybe they wanted it to happen, if only the people of Spira could learn from their mistakes. Perhaps they wanted to tempt more people to become Summoners, rather than support the crusaders, because, in some part of their subconscious, they had a kind of self-preservation instinct – after all, the final destruction of Sin would end their dreaming...

Though that hasn't stopped them meddling in the affairs of the real world. Bastards.

I suppose in some ways I was jealous of them. They are free to move as they will, flitting between worlds and dimensions and times with ease. On the other hand, I was stuck here, with nothing but my thoughts to keep me company for the time being, and quite likely going stir-crazy. I definitely felt like it. Oh, if I were free, the things I would do-

What would I do?

I'd right my wrongs, that's what. I'd make it okay.

I once more waited for an indefinite amount of time for something to happen. The waiting had begun to truly have an effect on how my thoughts worked – I felt myself becoming more introspective, my attention lingering longer on the details. I supposed it was for the best, after all, Auron and my Old Man had always accused me of being childish. I hoped they were proud of me, finally starting to become a man, rather than an impassioned boy, diving head-first into battle with little thought as to how I'd get back out again. If I were to get out of this place and back to the outside, I wonder how my actions would change. After all, I am the same person at heart, am I not? I suppose we will see. If I ever get out of this damned place.

My attention refocused on the space in front of me. I thought I had seen a- there! A ripple!

The images were returning.

As the ripples spread in front of me, I could see strange flashes, like tiny arcs of purple lightning, darting across the ripples. They were only truly visible now that I looked closely. It appeared as if some sort of highly saturated magical energy was being concentrated on the exact point in front of me. I could only hope it wouldn't become unstable and wipe me out of existence.

Before me a familiar scene was displayed – Besaid Island. Specifically, Wakka and Lulu's hut on Besaid. The couple were currently sitting on a comfortable-looking green sofa on either side of a harried-looking Yuna, who seemed to have the beginnings of tears in her eyes. On the other side of the hut, the lounge area separating the two parties, stood Rikku, her face a mixture of anguish and roaring fury. I winced as the sounds began to reach my ears.

"So that's it, is it? Yunie finally decides that she wants to do something with the rest of her life, and you say no? You want to keep her here, like a good little girl, until you're old and grey and she's not far behind you. Don't you want her to really explore, find out what this developing Spira has to offer? Or would you rather she stayed here, under your thumbs, and grew old and lonely?" Oh, Rik was pissed, alright.

"We simply believe that she should think through what it is you're suggesting before she runs off on some new quest across Spira. This is a huge undertaking!" Lulu responded, rare heat seeping into her normally calm persona.

"What about saving Tidus, huh?" She looked to each of them in turn, her voice hitching slightly. "You saw the sphere, and you agreed that it looks and sounds like him. So why would you stop her trying to save the man she openly declared her love for?"

"We don't want to stop her chasing her dreams, it's just Lu and I thought maybe she was rushing into it, ya?" Wakka looked decidedly uncomfortable from his position to Yuna's right. "I mean, with all the machina around these days, she could across the world in no time at all!"

"All the more reason for her to go! The world is a much smaller place now." Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Or is it rather the fact that she would be using machina that makes you so desperate to prevent her leaving?"

"Well, you can never know, what if the machina goes haywire, huh? It could kill her, ya!"

"We don't want her getting hurt by some malfunction," Lulu chimed in.

"Can you even hear yourselves? Think about it – it's no more dangerous to ride an airship than it is to go from here to the beach, or to ride the ferry to Kilika. Or more dangerous than playing Blitzball, for instance. What if the support structures fail on that, eh?"

"We just-"

"Stop, all of you." Yuna interrupted Wakka. Both he and Lulu looked betrayed that she would speak against them. "Stop. I have made my decision, and it is final. Lulu, Wakka, I would appreciate it if you would stop arguing and start accepting. This is what I want to do. And Rikku," she turned from the sofa to her cousin, now sitting opposite, "I'm quite certain that any prejudices they may have had have long since gone. There is no need to bring it up again. Now, all of you, apologise to each other."

"Sorry," they all said, sounding contrite.

"Good. Now, I need to go pack, and then I'm leaving with Rikku. As you said, we'll only be a short flight away!" With that, she seemed to skip off to what I assumed was her room. An awkward silence descended over the remaining squabblers.

"Look, Rikku," Lulu began, "you know we don't hold anything against the Al Bhed. We're sorry if we ever gave you that impression."

"S'okay," Rikku seemed deflated, "I guess, after a while, you just come to expect things from people. I made assumptions."

The images stopped.

I suppose there are some things you never really get over. For Rikku, being oppressed was her norm. Being hated, insulted and belittled, it was all part of being Al Bhed.

* * *

_The Moonflow, North Bank_

_5.12pm_

"_Damn those heathens! Nothing but no good two-bit sons of-"_

_I rushed ahead, trying to shut out Wakka's ranting. Sure, he had a right to be annoyed with the Al Bhed. But I was quite certain that his anger at them had very little to do with what had just transpired._

_It had been a long haul to get to this point. Many months of hiking had taken us halfway across Spira, and I was proud to call this misfit band of men and women my friends. Of course, that didn't stop them being irritating as hell from time to time._

_When I had first met these people, bar Auron, in Besaid, I had been an absolute mess. Well, my head was all over the place, that is – physically, I was quite alright, considering. Thus, I had immediately latched onto the first friendly people that I came across – namely, Wakka. I was supremely grateful for him showing me the ropes, not asking too many questions about my 'past', and for giving me an all-encompassing excuse for my apparent lack of common sense: Sin's toxin. I mean, sure, Rikku had mentioned it on the ship, but she didn't exactly explain it. Now, whenever someone questioned me on why I acted like a heathen, I had a ready excuse. Man, these Yevonites are gullible._

_When Wakka first introduced me to Lulu and Kimahri, I was intimidated. Tall, blue man covered in fur and with a horn – albeit a broken one – standing alongside a tall, dark, imposing and, it seemed, _extremely_ grumpy woman? Yeah, definitely intimidated. However, it's not like I ever let that shut me up. So, I asked after the summoner, guessing that a frail old man probably shouldn't be locked up in a place like this for too long. Boy was I in for a surprise when that door opened._

_Firstly, in no way, shape, or form was the person who came out male. Or old. Heck, she looked even younger than me! Kinda left me with my mouth hanging open a bit in surprise. I suppose Wakka must have seen me with my jaw in contact with my feet, because he confronted me about it later. Boy had he got the wrong idea though. I told him as much, because although I had to admit she was attractive, having spoken to her, I was sure she wasn't my type._

_So, with that, barring a slight misunderstanding between myself and a certain brooding Ronso, we left for Kilika. And we found Sin._

_I don't think there's anything that can prepare you for how ruthless, how powerful and how God-damn terrifying Sin is, aside from experiencing it before. Therefore, out of all of us, I was the only one not shocked into silence when it appeared by our boat. Well, Kimahri doesn't count. I don't think there's anything that can shock that guy. But the others recovered, and we took on Sin. Well, a fairly distracted and disinterested Sin, yes, but still. And we drove it off._

_Straight to the port of Kilika._

_The first thing that hit me was the smell. Not the sights, because I'd never seen Kilika before, and not the sounds, because it was completely silent, but the stench of death. I will always remember it, shocking me to the core and making me vomit all over the deck. I wasn't the only one._

_Once we got closer, the sound hit us. Weeping, screaming, cries to Yevon, be they in pain or in mourning. Children hunched over the torsos of their parents, screaming as they slumped in a pool of blood. The nattering of two scavenger fiends, feasting on the corpses of children that had been lifted high into the treetops, as their catatonic friends and family looked on, helpless._

_What I experienced that evening will haunt me until my dying day._

_We worked long into the night, Wakka, Kimahri and I, helping the locals attempt to rebuild, and taking the dead to be sent. And there is another thing that I will remember forever: the sending. Never before had I seen something that could be both so beautiful and yet so sad. Truly, it was something that I couldn't bear to watch yet could not take my eyes off. I was glad when it finished, and prayed that I would never have to watch it again._

_We eventually attempted to turn in when it was nearing sunrise. I doubt any of us slept that night, I certainly didn't, and I was quite sure that Yuna had crept away from her room during the night to continue assisting with the deceased. We eventually 'awoke' and left for the temple, making brisk progress through the woods (minus one baffling conversation with Yuna about her, as she said, 'wanting me nearby'), before knocking our way past the Sinspawn (man, Sin just won't give these guys a break, will it?) and reaching the temple. Again, things were said which went way over my head (what's Chappu got to do with this?) and we confronted the Luca Goers, some of our competitors for the Blitzball Tournament (and weren't they cocky). _

_At Kilika temple we met the first of a number of other summoners that we would encounter over the following months. Dona was an interesting character (and not just in the sense that she further dispelled my assumptions about the kind of people summoners were); young, confident in her abilities, scantily clad (I am male, after all) and also quite critical of Yuna's approach. Though I can't blame her too much, after all, as Barthello looks like he could take on all of us guardians with his left pinky._

_So, to cut a long story short, we completed the cloister of trials (although I really shouldn't have been there. Stupid Barthello) and gained a new Aeon. Devilish beast it was, too. After that, we returned to what remained of Kilika Port, and left for Luca._

_Ah, Luca. If there's one place in Spira where I've felt even slightly normal, it's Luca. After the two tiny towns of Besaid and Kilika, it was a great relief to reach a city, albeit a small one. Most importantly, it was the home of Blitzball, and the place where I could prove myself to be worth a dime in this world. It's not like I'm a legendary guardian or something..._

_Which brings me onto what turned out to be the most important event in Luca, at least from the perspective of our journey. Auron. That mysterious man I sometimes thought of as a father, definitely much more than my old man, had turned up here in Spira too. And with him, came hope. Hope that I could return to Zanarkand, to go back to my old life, because, no offence Spira, but I much prefer home._

_Before we met Auron, however, I had my first run-in with the Al Bhed since the ship. Upon finding two conversing inside the stadium, I attempted to thank them for the efforts of their fellows. Seemed to work great... not. I highly doubt they understood a word of what I said. I didn't even think to try my pig Al Bhed skills on them. Perhaps I was a little self-conscious about them? Regardless, we continued on to the café where the great Sir Auron was reported to have been seen. Of course, once we arrived there, he was long gone. And not five minutes later, so was Yuna. Good going, guardians!_

_We – as in Lulu, professional ego-destroyer - quickly discovered she had been kidnapped by the Psyches, in an attempt to convince Wakka to throw the game. Thus, we sped as fast as we could to the stadium and the docks surrounding it. A good quarter of an hour of toiling through child-size machina later, we reached the boat just as it was departing._

_Now, I don't like to boast, but I thought that was a pretty smooth move with the crane. Seems there's hope for me yet! So we tore that rather larger machina to shreds, moments before Yuna emerged from the cabin looking fresh as a daisy. A daisy that had just inflicted some pretty serious hurt on quite a few Al Bhed men._

_An enlightening conversation in which Yuna's half-Al Bhed heritage was revealed later, we returned to port. And to one of the Blitzball upsets of the decade. Wakka and the Aurochs had won! The regular fans all looked stunned. And they had every right to be. But they hadn't seen anything yet._

_I replaced the injured Wakka for the final. I felt quite bad about it, this having the potential to be his greatest achievement in the sport to date, and he would be retiring after the game, but he told me to. However, I did quite resent his comments about all Al Bhed being trouble. After all, I was living proof that there is at least one Al Bhed who isn't, right? And Yuna is half-Al Bhed, though he had no idea, of course._

_So we went out and took on the Luca Goers. And what a performance we put in. I felt the team did a great job, and, by the time that I left to allow Wakka his final moments in the sun, we were leading against the reigning champions. Wakka only compounded their problem of course, and added his own goal to seal the win. Needless to say, all of the non-Goers fans went completely crazy. However, it wasn't long before those screams of joy became screams of sheer terror._

_I'm not sure who released those fiends and why, but I immediately raced out with my sword to join Wakka in the sphere. After slicing and dicing our way through a large collection of those lizard-esque bastards, we reached dry land once more. And ran into a certain legendary guardian. And he hadn't changed one bit. Immediately getting down to business, the three of us cut ourselves a path through the fiends around the stadium. I have no idea how long we were there, forcing our way through an endless stream of monsters as Blitzball fans around us were being slaughtered, but fight we did. Until Maester Seymour got in on the action. His Aeon cut down every last fiend left in the stadium. All the survivors immediately praised him, as if he was the greatest man they had ever laid eyes on. I, as one who had not been raised under the thumb of Yevon, sang a rather different tune within the confines of my mind (it wouldn't do to disrespect a Meyster of Yevon in front of all these Yevonites, after all). And that tune was this: why didn't he act sooner? Why did he allow the slaughter, the sheer horror, to continue on so long? To this day, I have wondered. Once more, I have memories that will haunt me for all eternity. What I wouldn't do to be back in Zanarkand, leading the simple life that I had before._

_Now that the fiends had been dealt with, we regrouped with the others. Seems the pilgrimage party would have to continue from Luca, making a rather extended hike towards the next temple. However, my place in that party was now in great doubt. I had reached the city where, even back on the salvage ship, it seems I was destined to reach. I fit in well here, being a Blitzball player and all, and much preferred the sights and sounds of the city to the tiny towns of before. However, a conversation with Auron quickly dispelled any thoughts of remaining here._

_He claimed the impossible. He said he knew Yuna's father. As well as my old man. He claims the three of them defeated Sin, a decade previous. That he travelled to Zanarkand to watch over me, to bring me back to Spira one day. He claimed that Sin is my old man. That the hulking great monster that caused the horror of Kilika and the total destruction of Zanarkand is my own father. He told me to see for myself, to come with him. I asked him what would happen if I didn't. He said every story must have an ending._

_I guess I didn't have a choice. Sometimes, I hate that man._

_We offered to become Yuna's guardians. She accepted, of course. After all, she already suggested that she wanted me to come along, back in Kilika, and who would refuse Mr. L. Guardian? Thus, we continued together onto the Mi'ihen Highroad._

_There isn't much to say about the highroad, besides its ridiculous length. Seriously, what's wrong with a bit of machina to get you down that road in a couple of days, rather than the month it took us at a steady walk? It would make Spira a much more accessible place. Anyway, down the highroad we went, keeping ourselves at normal walking speed for eight hours a day, every day. We covered ground quite well, though if we had some of those chocobos like the chocobo knights we encountered did, I'm sure we would have had a much better time of it. Of course, that walking was interspersed with battles against fiends. I mean, as if it wasn't a long enough journey, we had to stop every twenty minutes to battle off some monster. Fucking brilliant._

_We all grew closer over that month. An easy camaraderie developed between us, and we all begun to work better together in battle. Where before we were clumsily attempting to work as a team, with the occasional shout from one of us trying to create a semblance of order to our attacks, we now, under Auron's tutelage, became a well-oiled fighting machine. At least, compared to what we were._

_Auron and I picked up from where we left off in Zanarkand. I'm not too sure what he is to me, and I don't think I ever will be. But he is what he is. The others quickly picked up on our shared past, and begun to enquire as to how we really knew each other, but we fended off the questions as best we could. They still wouldn't believe me about Zanarkand._

_Lulu begun to act as a pseudo-older sister, filling in any gaps in my knowledge created by 'Sin's toxin'. She was still cold, but didn't appear to resent my presence any longer. I was glad for the reprieve. Wakka too had taken the role of an older sibling (though not a sister, of course. Now THAT would have confused me!). He kept me entertained with stories of his previous attempts with the Aurochs to get out of their slump. He tried to demonstrate strategies he used as a forward, usually failing spectacularly, but I appreciated the effort and responded in kind._

_Yuna was, well, Yuna. We didn't have much in common, but she's such a genuine, pleasant and perpetually hopeful person that I couldn't help but get along well with her. We begun to find common ground on some issues, and I tried to convince her that she wouldn't have to worry about the future. At least not until Sin is gone. It was then that I discovered yet another reason for continuing on with this merry band of men and women – our destination was one and the same. Zanarkand._

_We stayed in an Al Bhed inn that night I had my first heart-to-heart with Yuna. The proprietor, Rin, reminded me of Rikku in the sense that not only did he speak common Spiran, like I, but he also encouraged me to learn Al Bhed. I, of course, took him up on his suggestion and he provided me with a book to help my studies (which I have now finished and feel quite proud of myself for - I never was an academic)._

_The next day, we hit the road again. Well, we didn't begin travelling until far later in the day than usual, due to a rather troublesome fiend. After dispatching it, however, our journey time for the remainder of the highroad suddenly reduced, thanks to Rin. He offered us the use of his chocobos, as a token of his gratitude. We, of course, accepted, and by nightfall we had reached the end of the highroad. And walked right into the middle of a crusader operation._

_Seems the attack in Kilika caused the crusaders to really pick up arms. They all appeared extremely fired up, and were greatly anticipating their coming attempt on Sin. I, too, couldn't help but get at least a little caught up in the excitement. However, the operation meant we would not be allowed through, they told us. Well, that was until Seymour turned up. I tell you, that guy gives me the willies. But he sure helped us out, telling the crusaders to let us through. So, we stayed the night at the gate before continuing on to the operation site the next morning._

_If there's one thing about our climb up to the command centre that stood out to me, it was Wakka's sheer, unadulterated hatred of the machina. So much so that he confronted Seymour over it. Seymour's response, of course, came straight out of the Maester handbook, but I couldn't help but agree with it. If it got rid of Sin, then was there truly anything wrong with the use of machina? A shared goal, just different approaches, he said of the crusaders and the Al Bhed. It most definitely didn't reduce Wakka's ire, however, especially when Seymour requested he turned a blind eye to them. I'd like to think it was what lead him to kick the guns by the command centre, but I very much doubt it._

_Seems a large portion of his hatred stems from the loss of Chappu. Turns out, Chappu hoped to marry Lulu (though I couldn't quite understand why – she is quite the ice queen), but went off to join the crusaders and got himself killed instead. With his secrets finally spilled to one of those most affected by them, Luzzu joined his fellow crusaders for the battle. His stance, his manner and the actions of the others all pointed to him dying that day. Yet he walked, head held high, to face his destiny. I couldn't help but be a little inspired by him, and hoped he would make it through the day._

_Upon reaching the command centre (interrupted by a brief pep-talk from Auron for Luzzu's friend, Gatta), we were greeted by another Maester. One who seemed to know Auron, yet I had never heard him speak of before. The man, short and portly, gave an extremely dour prediction for the operation. It rather dampened our spirits, which had been so raised by the attitude of the majority of the crusaders (few of which had faced this kind of a battle before, true)._

_The operation began shortly thereafter. It almost immediately hit a snag, when the Sinspawn escaped. After we battled one of them off (horrible bastard it was, too), the operation finally reached its climax. Sin had arrived._

_I thought what I saw in Kilika was horrible. I thought I would never again experience something quite so soul-destroying. I was wrong. That day on the shores of Mi'ihen and Djose stands out in my mind more than any other._

_I could only watch as hundreds of men and women, warriors who had trained for months, even years, for this one moment, were vaporised, not just killed, _vaporised_, in seconds. I could only watch as Sin swatted aside the Al Bhed cannon, crashing it down upon dozens of Al Bhed engineers as if it was nothing. I could only watch as the thing that Auron claimed was my own father slaughtered the entirety of the crusaders and Al Bhed. And then, it simply left. Something inside me switched, flipped open, and flooded my mind and body with hate, loathing and anger. I chased after Sin._

_Some time later - I do not know if it was minutes or even hours - I returned to shore to find, close up, the destruction caused by Sin. I met Gatta, miraculously alive but heavily traumatised. I found few bodies, the remains of those who survived the initial burst by Sin only to fall to its scales. The smell found in Kilika was not here. Rather, there was a different smell, one of ozone, of burnt air, and of _something else_. When the thought occurred to me that I may be breathing the remains of those vaporised, I threw up._

_Auron found me, as the day progressed into the late afternoon. Turns out our party was all alive, and Yuna had finished sending the dead. I confirmed to Auron what he had told me in Luca, that Sin was Jecht, and allowed him to drag me up the beach to the Djose highroad. Together, the six of us walked in a daze to Djose Temple. Few words were spoken, little more than those necessary to allow us to fight well. The big surprise was Kimahri, initiating our first true conversation. I was glad for it, supporting my attempts to keep the group upbeat, and encouraging me to keep doing so despite my own depression over what we had witnessed. Always nice to know your efforts are appreciated._

_We stayed the night at the inn situated outside Djose Temple. I would be lying if I said any of us got a lick of sleep. The next day was spent entirely inside the Temple proper. Little of note beside the usual Temple trials and Aeon gifting occurred, though we did meet another summoner party. This time, it was the summoner Issaru. He came across as a pleasant man, though I have to question his decision to allow a young boy to be his guardian. We parted ways with him declaring a race between himself and Yuna to be the first to defeat Sin. If that's his way of keeping himself entertained on his pilgrimage, then so be it._

_We again stayed the night outside the Temple. We left for the Moonflow at sunrise, with Auron warning us of dangerous fiends on the route. A fair warning it was, too, as we soon encountered a supremely poisonous being known to the locals as an Ochu. It was so powerful that we had to rely on Yuna and her Aeon, Ifrit, to deal with it. Bit of a blow to our guardian egos, that was, after we had really begun to take the fight to the fiends and tear them apart._

_Regardless, we continued up the Moonflow for three days' hike. The walk was, as ever, interspersed with many battles, as well as a brief and ominous encounter with the two Ronso from the café in Luca. Aside from their usual teasing of Kimahri, which he passed off as a 'Ronso Problem', they told us of summoners disappearing from their pilgrimages. We vowed to ourselves that we would not let that happen to Yuna._

_On the third day we reached the Moonflow itself. It truly is a spectacular sight. Even more spectacular at night, I'm told. We decide to immediately cross, not wanting to waste any time (or so Auron said). After settling down on the monstrosity known as a Shoopuf, with a Hypello at the reigns (by this point, I was completely out of my depth), we headed out across the river. When Wakka pointed out the ancient city lying at the river bed, I was reminded of the ruins Rikku and I explored. They appeared to be similar, if only in structure and the situation they now find themselves in._

_We were all snapped out of our reminiscing about ancient civilisations and man's stupidity by some representatives from the race that haunts Yevonites leaping onto the Shoopuf and grabbing Yuna, pulling her down into the river. Myself and Wakka immediately sprung into action, leaping off of either side of the Shoopuf and, upon entering the water, spotting a strangely familiar Al Bhed machina, with Yuna held inside a bubble above it._

_Fighting the machina was tricky. Wakka and I couldn't be too aggressive, as we could not afford to allow any harm to befall Yuna. However, we had to attack hard enough to defeat the machina and prevent it from leaving with her. Therefore, the battle took a little longer than it would have otherwise, but we pulled through, Wakka proving his worth with a spectacular show of elemental prowess by imbuing his blitzball with the power of lightning and repeatedly attacking the machina with it. I think he was a bit chuffed with how it worked out. After that, the machina begun to fall apart, clearly close to exploding, so we quickly removed Yuna from the bubble and took her back to the surface. When we finally made it back on board the Shoopuf, there was a small shock wave and a flash of light from where the machina last was. I couldn't bring myself to worry after the pilot, if there was one. _

_Wakka, of course, went off on another anti-Al Bhed spiel. I couldn't blame him quite so much this time, but I couldn't just sit there and listen to it non-stop. Much as I like the guy, he can grate, at times. I was just glad Yuna was okay._

_And that leads us to where I am now, walking ahead of the others as we follow the North Bank of the Moonflow, trying to escape Wakka's non-stop tirade._

_As I rounded a turn in the road, I spied a suited form of a woman lying on the bank. She looked quite young, maybe in her mid-teens, with her blond hair tied up in a ponytail. She seemed to set off all number of alarm bells in my head, but I approached her, intending to wake her to check that she was okay, when she suddenly began to get up on her own. And began to strip._

_Now, I'm not entirely new to someone stripping in front of me. After all, I was once a huge blitzball star. However, I was caught completely by surprise. I considered averting my eyes, but that thought lasted all of two seconds – I am, after all, male. So excuse me for watching every moment of it and taking it all in._

_When she took her helmet off however, the alarm bells made sense. It was Rikku! _

"_Rikku! You're Rikku! Hey! You're okay! How you been?" I asked her, feeling a little giddy. I had missed her a fair bit, being my first friend in this world and all._

"_Terrible!" She sighed, sounding extremely tired._

"_Yeah, you don't look so good. What happened?" I could see what she meant. She looked pretty down._

_She pointed at me. "You beat me up, remember?"_

_It suddenly dawned on me why she was here, looking so defeated. "Oh! That machina... that was you?"_

"_That really hurt, you know. You big meanie." She sounded playful already. Whoever said I can't cheer people up. Then again, in the (short) time that I'd known her, I'd never seen Rikku stay down for long._

"_W-wait! But you attacked us!" I got us back on track._

"_Nah-uh, it's not exactly what you think," she said, leaving me extremely confused. As far as I could see, it was pretty black and white. Then again, this is Spira._

"_Yo!" Uh oh, "Friend of yours?" Wakka asked, he and the others approaching._

_I tried to think fast. "Uh, you could say that," smooth, Tidus._

"_Pleased to meet you! I'm Rikku!" Well, at least one of us can think on our feet. _

"_Yuna, Lulu... I told you about her, remember?" a memory had quickly jogged into place, of the three of us on the Psyches ship in Luca, where I told them of my time with the AL Bhed on the salvage ship. "She was the one who helped me before I was washed up on Besaid! She's Al Bhe... beh," so very smooth, Tidus. Keep at it._

"_Wow, so you, like, owe her your life! What luck meeting here, ya? Praise be to Yevon!" Thank fuck for Wakka's cluelessness. There's a major issue dodged until another day. "So, uh... Rikku... You look a little beat up! You okay?" Oh, great, always with the difficult questions._

"_Uh, Wakka..." Lulu began. Dig us out of this hole, please!_

"_Huh? What?"_

"_There's something we need to discuss." Yuna said, eyeing Rikku a little warily, yet also with a slight spark of joy._

"_Oh, go ahead." Phew!_

"_Girls only! Boys please wait over there!" Hey, I resent that! I'd like to think we're all men!_

"_Right. Sorry, Wakka." With that, they left, leaving Wakka looking a trifle baffled._

_A few minutes of silence later, the 'girls' returned to the group. "Sir Auron," Yuna began, sounding very worried, "I would like Rikku to be my guardian." Wait, what?_

_Auron walked up to Rikku, who had closed her eyes and lowered her face. "Show me you face," she didn't budge, "look at me."_

"_Oh, okay," she raised her face, keeping her eyes closed, "open your eyes." She finally opened one eye, looking at him warily. "As I thought," he said, seemingly confirming some assumption._

"_Um... no good?" She asked, sounding fearful._

"_Are you certain?"_

"_One hundred percent!" She now opened both eyes, a grin starting to form on her face, "So, anyway... Can I?" She gave him her best puppy-dog look, bottom lip jutting out and eyes going wide._

"_If Yuna wishes it," Seems even Auron isn't immune to that. Ha!_

"_Yes, I do," Yuna confirmed, finally regaining her former confidence._

"_Rikku's a good girl. She helped me out a bunch!" I tried to convince the remainder, Wakka looking slightly put out and Kimahri impassive as ever._

"_Well, I'm for it! The more, the merrier!" Seemed Wakka was finally convinced._

"_Then I'll just have to be the merriest!" Rikku said with a grin and a giggle, bouncing off down the path towards our next destination._

_So, with that, Rikku became a part of our rag-tag group. I found it ironic that Wakka was so pleased to have Rikku as part of us, yet he remained completely oblivious to the fact that she was one of those that he hates above all others: an Al Bhed, a heathen. When he finds out (as I'm sure he will eventually), it will not be pretty._

_We soon decided to stop for the night. After all, the sun had begun to set and it wouldn't do to travel down the road ahead in darkness. Too much danger from fiends. So, we settled down near the water's edge and set up camp._

_Rikku quickly integrated herself as part of the team, collecting firewood enthusiastically, despite her obvious exhaustion, and keeping us entertained with little jokes and barbs. I could see her becoming valuable quickly._

_Once all the firewood we needed had been collected, we returned to find the others had completed setting up our tents. We had two, one for the gents and one for the ladies. Though Wakka's snoring often caused some dissension amongst the four of us, for the most part we could sleep well enough in the same tent._

_Over dinner, a stew of the fish that Lulu had been able to net in the last hour, Rikku avoided any questions about her background, claiming she was too tired and that they could ask her alter, when she was more awake. Luckily, Wakka's inquiries were for the most part stemmed by those of us in the know, as we distracted him and moved the talk onto safer topics._

_Once dinner had been eaten, everyone but myself and Rikku turned in for the night. I had first watch, and had sent her a pleading look as the others packed up, silently begging her to stay so we could talk once more, away from prying ears. She obliged._

_And so, we were sitting next to each other, backs leaning against a log, by the fire. I had so many questions, I didn't know where to start. I settled on a chronological order, at least loosely._

"_What happened, after I fell off the ship?"_

"_It was damaged, but not so much that we couldn't get back to port." She spoke quietly, getting lost in the memories, "I fretted for days, wondering what had happened to you. Hoping you were okay. The others, they... weren't too sympathetic. They didn't really care. I got into a fight with Brother over it. I wanted to turn the ship around, to look for you. He refused, claiming that as the pilot it was his decision. I may have hit him," she smirked, "a couple times, and I may have put a special something in his food the next day."_

"_Thanks, I guess," I chucked, feeling a little warm from her obvious defence of me. "If only everyone supported me like that."_

_She blushed lightly, a shy smile on her face. "Hey, in case you didn't notice, I don't have many friends amongst the Al Bhed. All the men think I'm some uppity woman, doing a man's job only because my father put me there. The women don't seem to find much common ground with me, Turns out they aren't too pleased with my line of work, either. They think I should be back at home, or if not, doing something respectable, like Blitzball. Pfft."_

"_Hey, Blitzball is respectable!" I protested, grinning at her. "Besides, you're easily a strong enough swimmer. Why didn't you play?"_

"_Oh, because playing actually requires me to be good at throwing and kicking the ball, maybe?" She mock-sighed, "I always was useless at that."_

"_Heh, I'm sure you could do it, if you tried."_

"_Oh, believe me, I tried. And I failed, spectacularly."_

_We both laughed at that._

"_So, how's your study coming along?" She asked me, shifting so she looked right at me._

"_Oh, a guy named Rin gave me a book on it. I read the whole thing." I pulled the book out of one of my many pockets, showing it to her._

"_Oooh, this is a pretty good one. Come on, let's hear some." She looked at me, expectantly._

"_E's kmyt oui'na pylg, Rikku," I told her. {I'm glad you're back, Rikku}_

_At that, she gave a slight squeak, and, before I knew it, I had my arms full of short, clinging Al Bhed girl. I hugged her back, letting a slight chuckle slip out._

"_E's kmyt du pa pylg," she said into my shoulder. I smiled. {I'm glad to be back}_

* * *

I've always been impressed with how she takes the abuse. It may have dimmed in the years since Sin's ultimate demise, but, at least in this generation, it will always exist, lingering behind the overwritten attitudes. Wakka clearly suffers from the same issue. I would like it if he would get over it completely, but I would also be surprised, as it was how he was raised and how he lived most of his life. You can't expect a man to change too much after that, especially in such a relatively short time.

* * *

_A/N: With regards to the length of the Mi'ihen Highroad: After looking at the globe on the airship with Spira on it, I decided to make Spira approximately the size of Europe. This can help to explain the vast changes in climate experienced as the player travels across the continent. Therefore, the Mi'ihen highroad, which makes up a rather large portion of the map of Spira, was assumed to be about 1000km long. At a 5km/h walking speed, for 8 hours a day including stoppages, you're looking at more than 25 days of walking. Just thought I'd clear that up._

_Other than that, another apology for the delay and I hope and pray that it won't take so long next time. But I'd be very surprised if it didn't._

_Cheers._


	4. Chapter 3: Roots

_A/N: Well, I'm back again it seems. What to talk about... Oh! Inspirations. When I grow up, I wanna be joe6991, because he is like so super-awesome._

_In all seriousness, check out Harry Potter and the Wastelands of Time, now being followed up by The Heartlands of Time. The most amazing fanfiction I have ever read, and I think Rowling would eat her hat if she read it. Truly brilliant. I'm sure if Joe himself ever reads this, he might well notice at least a few areas where his style inspired mine. Not that I'm comparing my writing to his, or anything. That would be stupid, 'cause he's far superior in every way, shape and form when it comes to this shit._

_Anyways, read them, they're great. And The Lie I've Lived, by jbern. Epic._

_Disclaimer: Maybe Square Enix have gifted me ownership... Nope. Still don't own FFX or X-2._

* * *

_Mistake_

_Chapter 3: Roots_

Have you ever wondered how bright the world would be if the spectrum of light we could see were just that little bit wider. Nope, neither have I. But now I know, and it's beautiful. Deeper reds and far more vibrant blues than I ever thought possible, intermixed with colours I dare not name, for I have never seen their ilk before. They do not even appear to be colours formed of what we know and can comprehend. I suppose its one of the benefits of being the only living visitor to this _other place_.

Yep, I'm still stuck here. Still lost in thought, still hoping for some kind of a sign that things are progressing. I suppose the colours, if that's what one could possibly call them, are a sign in themselves. They were definitely never here before, so why are they here now? Perhaps it has something to do with the boundaries the fayth keep mentioning. Well, I guess I'll just have to wait until they let me know.

I swear, if I ever get back, they will all wonder just what had happened to the old me. I was never this introverted, this much of a deep thinker. Then again, we adapt to our circumstances, don't we? Evolution, almost. Of course, if I ever do return I may well revert back to how I was. Apart from one small detail, one huge decision... one mistake.

My surrounding have begun to shift. Not just with the colours, but with something _else,_ something both mystifying and terrifying, as if not mortal should ever glimpse its' edges. I tried not to look, but hey, there ain't much else to look at down here. And it gave me something to do, besides reflecting on my past.

The surroundings would occasionally, for only the briefest of flashes, display the images like those that had coalesced before me on previous occasions. Only these were of the rest of the world, going about their business. I saw Bevelle, and Luca, and what must have been Kilika, the sands of the Bikanel Desert and the plains of the Calm Lands. Just... people. After all I had been through on Spira, I suppose it can be easy to forget that, out there, there are still those who simply live. They have no need to travel to Zanarkand on foot, fighting tooth and nail against fiends and the Temple alike, only to find that everything they had been told was true about Spira, and Sin, and Yevon, was in fact wrong. They didn't have to carve a new path, break all the boundaries imposed by those before them, and take down the bogeyman that shrouds all of Spira in shadow.

I reserve the right to be a little sore about what a tough time our group had.

There was always something in our way, always someone working against us. Be it the fiends, which all travellers of the more barren areas of Spira must face, or the ruling authority themselves, we never got a break. And not one of them could stop us. We were untouchable, almost, back then. Yevon even managed to imprison us, but couldn't hold us for long before we were on the move once more. Looking back, though, it wasn't exactly the most effective execution method, old Via Purifico. Not that I'm complaining, of course. I owe my life to their arrogance.

The other races of Spira didn't exactly work in our favour the whole time either. The early struggles for the pilgrimage group against the Al Bhed set the tone for our future relations with other races, for the most part. The Ronso brothers, Biran and Yenke, seemed to take every opportunity to belittle Kimahri, for instance. And then there were the Guado.

Historically, Guado are a very insular race, second only to the Al Bhed. Guadosolam itself used to be quite the fortress, with its bunker-esque build making it the perfect place for Guado to wall themselves off from the rest of Spira. With the Moonflow so close, they could always break out for short amounts of time, perhaps through some hidden passageways passing underground, and collect food. The surrounding forest couldn't have hurt, either.

It was only the coming of Lord Jyscal that changed this. He was the first Guado of note to truly break out of Guadosolam and establish himself in the world of human politics. He forged the first alliances between humans and Guado, visiting Bevelle unaccompanied as leader of the Guado and, over many decades, persuading Maester Mika that working together would be far more beneficial to both races than working apart. In return, he would adopt the teachings of Yevon wholeheartedly, and bring it back to his people as a new way of life after their years in self-imposed exile.

Turns out, this was possibly the greatest move in the long history of the Guado. Their economy prospered, their quality of life improved dramatically, and they truly understood how the rest of Spira lived. There was, however, still one problem, which exists to this day. In-breeding.

The Guado lived by themselves underground too long for their own good. Centuries ago, they were beautiful elven men and women, looking like the stuff of fairy tales. They lived far longer than humans, their legends proclaiming that the greatest among them were near-immortal, their lives only being forfeit through battle. They had a vast array of specialist crafts, forging some of the most impressive and beautiful weapons and artworks ever seen on Spira. However, all this was long ago.

Their years separated from other gene-pools lead to their bodies transforming. Certain key features began to take command; their hands and feet grew in size exponentially, their hair became so stringy as to be solid, their noses began to droop and extend, and their torsos lost a great deal of mass, making them look permanently gaunt. Some argued that the changes in their appearance owed themselves to their proximity to the Farplane, their skeletal shape modelling itself after the image of the dead.

Jyscal knew all this. Unlike the majority of his kin, he had seen what those in the past had had, what they had been and what they had allowed themselves to become. He saw this, and he did something about this, he took the first step. He became the first Guado on record to marry a human woman.

Lady Jyscal came of good stock. An aristocrat by blood, she was the perfect compliment to Lord Jyscal, solidifying his position in Spiran politics and the upper echelons of its society. Functions for Yevon were hosted in Guadosolam for the first time, and its doors were finally opened to all. And Jyscal and his wife had a child, a boy.

Seymour was a good child. He studied, he ate healthily, and he loved his mother and father. However, his father's duties to Yevon took him away for long periods of time, and thus young Seymour spent the vast majority of his childhood with his mother. This, in itself, was not a bad thing. His mother raised him well, teaching him all she knew of politics and class, and crafted him into a fine speaker, thinker and executor. He began to depend on her. And this was the clutch.

When Lady Jyscal became ill, she decided to become a fayth. As a fayth, she could offer her son the chance to become a truly great warrior, gifting him with supreme powers only achievable otherwise to those who wished to sacrifice themselves to Sin. You see, for most summoners, the only way to gain an Aeon is to pray, with all your might, for a way to defeat Sin. Seymour, on the other hand, did not need to, as the fayth in question was willing to gift him an Aeon regardless of his intentions to fight Sin. When Yuna later visited, she, too, did not have to pray for a way to fight Sin, instead praying for a way to stop Seymour.

Upon the demise of his mother, Seymour fell into the care of his father. His father could still only be around for short periods of time, leaving Seymour to his own devices for the majority of his teenage years. It was in these years that Seymour's grief for his mother morphed into hate for his father. Perhaps, Seymour believed that if only Jyscal had paid more attention to his wife, rather than Yevon, he may have been able to prevent her death. Regardless, this hate brew over the years and manifested itself shortly before my arrival in Spira. In his 28th year, Seymour Guado murdered his father.

This was a time of great turmoil for the Guado. They had lost the greatest leader their people had ever seen. And in the aftermath, they turned to the one man who they could look up to, who represented a future: his son.

Seymour's subsequent rise to power was nothing short of astronomical. In the span of a couple of months, he went from an apprentice politician to a Maester, leader of the Guado and ambassador to all of Spira. His people saw in him the chance of continuing Jyscal's efforts, leading them to greatness. Of course, it didn't turn out that way, but who among the living would have guessed it at the time?

The Guado people idolised him, all singing his praises and using his status to improve their own. For, as Guado themselves, were they not built in his mould? And if they were, did that not make them exceptional, too? Strange how people who have had so little to shout about can change in so little time. The once insular and degenerate Guado became advocates for expansion and interracial marriage, almost to the point of engaging in it themselves. Almost. After all, though their outward attitudes may have changed, it takes many years to truly change the base values that have been ingrained in you for your whole life. And this value is that the Guado solve Guado problems.

Through all this, it is little surprise to me now just how the events in Guadosolam took place and evolved. At the time, however, it was a real shock.

* * *

_Guadosolam, Entrance_

_4.05pm_

_It had been a long day of hiking uphill to reach Guadosolam. The way Auron had talked of the Moonflow, I would have thought that crossing to the north bank would signal the end of the path. How mistaken I was._

_It had taken two more days of hiking for us to finally leave the Moonflow behind us. In that time, Auron worked us hard to adapt to Rikku's presence on the battlefield. Credit to her, she made it quite easy for us, showing us early on where her strengths lied and what her weaknesses were. Of course, I already knew a number of these, though she had never before shown me her frankly impressive skills in alchemy._

_The principle, she said, was to find two chemicals which, when mixed together under certain conditions, would lead to a magical effect, be it a fiery explosion or forming a protective wall or anything in between. Her research had taken many years of scavenging for chemicals and a huge amount of trial and error to see what works with what and under what conditions. An ongoing process, she said._

_When mixing the two chemicals, it was usually not as simple as putting them in a container and shaking them. Normally, she would have to use a quick burst of magic, using it to heat the chemicals, freeze them, stimulate them with electricity, dissolve them in water, or even use an increased gravitational field to compress them. And herein lied the true art. Too much magic, and the chemicals would undergo their effect too soon, potentially burning off her hand. Too little magic, and the effects may not happen, or may take too long, thus providing the enemy with a chance to get out of range. This, she claimed, was mainly intuitive, though there was obviously an element of experience._

_All of this had left us stunned, and even Auron had a small smirk on his face as he realised just what we had gained in recruiting her._

_Though she subsequently promised to try teaching me the basics, I knew that, without a doubt, I would never be able to remember all these combinations and the required circumstances like she could. I just wasn't smart enough. I told her as much, but it only made her more determined. I let it go after that, seeing she wasn't going to budge. Always trying to help me, that one. You would think I'm an invalid, with how much she doted on me._

_When we would settle down for dinner, she would always insist on getting my food, handing it to me each time before serving herself. When the watch rotations were decided, she would insist on us taking it together, in order to 'keep an eye on me'. Her words, not mine. I couldn't help but wonder if my troubled time on board the salvage ship had left a lasting impression on her with regards to my capabilities. Once more, I let her do her thing. She was nothing if not stubborn._

_In battle, Auron often paired the two of us up. Seems our fighting styles complemented each other well in situations where speed was of the essence. Against some of the less flighty enemies, the two of us would combine to bamboozle the hell out of them before tearing them to pieces from either side. When the opponents were more nimble, we would endeavour to fell them before they could gain a stronghold against the more lethargic among us, namely Auron, Kimahri and Lulu. Wakka and Yuna seemed to fall somewhere in-between, though Yuna was of course protected at all times. That was our job, after all._

_Aside from my growing, er, let's call it a partnership. Seems about right. Anyway, aside from my partnership with Rikku, my friendship with the others had also grown stronger over the past few days. It seems the others saw my immediate response to Yuna's kidnapping as commendable, and a key moment in my growth as a guardian. It also earned their respect. Much of the frost emitting from Lulu when we conversed had been lost, and Wakka treated me less like a little brother. That isn't to say he didn't act the older sibling, but it was reduced. Kimahri, too, seemed to listen to my opinion more, perhaps seeing me as less of a boy doing a man's job. I guess I had matured over the past months, but what happened on the river had proven these changes to them._

_Auron, of course, hadn't changed one bit. Probably never would, having essentially raised me._

_Yuna had definitely taken a shine to me after it. She would usually walk alongside myself and Rikku during our hikes, the three of us passing the time in pleasant conversation, and seemed to solicit my opinion on decisions before making them, a distinction that only Auron had had before now. Even Lulu and Wakka weren't usually asked, though they would often provide it anyway, owing to the fact that they had known and protected her so long._

_I was taken from my reminiscing by a poke in the shoulder and a annoyed "Oi!" from the short blonde walking next to me._

"_What?" I asked her, not having heard any of what she had been saying._

"_I asked you a question. Jeez, don't you boys ever listen?" Rikku teased, flashing me a grin. Yuna, who was walking on her other side, stifled a smile of her own, biting her lip to stop herself giggling._

"_We've been known to, from time to time. Experts believe we listen as often as we shave." I teased right back, keeping a straight face._

"_So, once a day?" She squinted at me, as if trying to discern if I was telling the truth. I could see the laughter she was trying to hold in, however._

"_That changes. Little boys will never listen, teenagers only every so often, and adult men will listen, at most, once a day. If I ever get a five o'clock shadow, you can be pretty sure that I'm close to listening."_

_At that, the three of laughed out loud, getting ourselves an irritated glance from Auron. Before I could stop, however, I found myself in a headlock._

"_Hey-ey what?" I sputtered, blowing the locks of my attacker away from my eyes before looking into her oh-so-not-serious eyes._

"_You didn't answer my question," she challenged, giving my neck a squeeze and poking my ribs for good measure. I yelped._

"_Well if you told me what it was then maybe I could answer it."_

"_I asked you where your old sword went. You know, long and red?"_

"_Oh, I can show you where my long and red thing is-" I began, allowing my voice to taken on a dirty quality._

"_Gah! Boys and their brains. I'm serious!" Her face had gone bright red, but she was laughing._

"_The one Wakka gave me is way better, so I kept it. I sold my old one to a crusader over on Mi'ihen Highroad. He needed it more than I did," I finally answered her, stopping my teasing. For now._

"_Oh, fair 'nuff. Was wondering where you got that new one from. It looks wicked!" she grabbed at it, taking it from its sheath and giving it a once-over._

"_Oi, careful with that. It's pretty sharp, y'know, being a sword and all," I took it back, sheathing it once more, "can't have you chopping off your fingers, can we? Whatever would I tell your brother?"_

"_Heh, he wouldn't hurt ya. Feeble, he is," she laughed at her absent brother's expense, "then again, you're not exactly Mr Muscle yourself, are you?"_

"_Hey, I resent that! I can kick your arse any day of the week, and twice on Tuesdays!"_

"_Oh yeah."_

"_Yeah," we mock glared at each other, each daring the other to be the first to blink. I cracked first, unable to stifle a chuckle deep in my throat._

"_Ha! I win!" she did a little jig, mocking me for my pitiful loss._

"_Yeah, yeah. Well done, oh masterful one." I staged a stately bow, "and may your manliness continue to increase in leaps and bounds."_

"_Oi! Bad flunkey!" she slapped me up the head, "Behave! Or else."_

"_Yes, ma'am," I tried to look contrite, probably failing in a spectacular display of dreadful acting skills._

_By now, we had reached the sprawling entrance to Guadosolam. The entrance itself was built into the tree roots housing the town, creating a unique architecture. The roots, some of them up to ten metres in diameter, perhaps even more out of sight, curved over the path before bunching and knotting together in front of us. This created a cavernous space half the size of a blitzball sphere with roots forming the floor, walls and ceiling. There was a relatively small opening in front of us that I presume lead to the city proper._

"_Through there?" I asked the others, pointing to the opening._

"_Yes. We should continue through, so we can rest for the night," Yuna replied, beginning to look weary. With that, we all made our way through the archway, Yuna leading the way._

_Upon passing through the archway and down a short, narrow corridor, we emerged into Guadosolam. It truly was a sight to behold; the roots formed pathways connecting all the doorways, and, from what I could see, the doorways appeared to lead into buildings that had been cut into the roots. There was no telling just how large the city was, for this central area we were standing in could well have been just one of many. From the outside, it certainly appeared as if the roots travelled far and wide._

_As we rounded a corner, we came across an elderly Guado. He appeared to have aged poorly, his skin hanging off him and his hair falling out in places. He also had difficulty moving._

"_We have been expecting you, Lady Yuna. Welcome to Guadosolam. This way, my Lady, this way," with that, he began herding Yuna away from us, deeper into the city, despite her weak protests._

_Well, we couldn't have that._

"_Whoa, whoa, whoa," Wakka certainly seemed to agree, reaching out to stop the Guado. He appeared to notice us for the first time._

"_Oh, I beg your pardon. I am called Tromell Guado," he certainly didn't sound bothered by his rudeness. "I am in the direct service of our leader, the great Seymour Guado. Lord Seymour has very important business with Lady Yuna," he addressed Yuna once more._

"_Business with me? Whatever could it be, I wonder?" Yuna was as baffled as the rest of us. This man was starting to get on my nerves, and I could feel Auron becoming more and more tense behind me._

"_Please, come inside the manor. All will be explained," he begun dragging Yuna once more, and myself and the rest of the guardians started. "Of course, your friends are also welcome." Glad to hear it._

_Myself and Rikku hung back as the rest walked away, continuing to peer around the city. Rikku was as miffed at him as I was, grumbling "Twist our arms, why don't ya?" just quiet enough for him not to hear. She suddenly turned to me, an eager look in her eyes, "Oh, I almost forgot. Talk to me later about fixing up that sword of yours. Good though it might be, I can make it even better!" She went on to explain how she could use her alchemy skills to combine the chemicals inherent in the spoils we could take from fiends in order to improve the working properties of the blade. She could make it lighter, sharper, and even make it not only improve my own magical abilities, but also make it release a burst of energy upon striking an enemy, causing all kinds of effects. "What would you do without me?" I had to agree with her assessment._

_With that, the two of us followed the others into the manor house that was situated at the rear end of the cavern we found ourselves in._

_We followed Tromell into a function room, with ornate furniture scattered around the sides of the room and two tables in the centre piled high with food. He left through a side door, indicating to us that he was going to retrieve Seymour, and to wait for him here. After a short time, in which five of us mingled and two of us brooded – no prizes for guessing who – Tromell returned._

_After much arse-kissing from Tromell, a by-no-means humble Seymour emerged from the side door. He welcomed us, and Auron got us straight down to business by reminding him that we're not here for a tour._

_We followed Seymour into the rear of the chamber, a room with only a small circle of floor visible. He appeared to press a button by the door, causing scenes to be projected all around us. As soon as I could make sense of what I was seeing, I had to stifle a gasp. It was Zanarkand, as I remembered it. Skyscrapers, highways, shopping centres, and a huge marina. However, the scenes, which Seymour had revealed were being projected by a sphere, quickly moved somewhere unfamiliar._

_A woman was sitting on a bed in an elaborate chamber. She appeared young, with long silver hair and, from what I could see, which was a lot, a healthy body._

"_Lady Yunalesca!" Yuna exclaimed, sounding very shocked. I had no idea who this Yunalesca woman was, having never heard of her in Zanarkand._

_Seymour went on to tell us that she was the first person ever to defeat Sin, achieving it through her love. A man walked into the room, wearing extravagant headgear and an embroiled cape. He and Yunalesca appeared a couple, if there interactions were and indication. I looked over at Seymour, only to see him leaning into Yuna, his mouth inches from her ear as he whispered something to her. Yuna suddenly put her hand to her mouth, her face reddening as she humped back from him. I was about to call attention to it and ask what the hell he was doing, when the sphere stopped and we were all cast back into the function room._

_Yuna briskly walked over to the side of the room, gulping down a crystal glass of water. She sighed, her shoulders relaxing, and walked back over to us._

"_Wow! your face is beet red!" Rikku stated, sounding worried._

"_You okay?" I asked her, voicing the concerns of the group._

_Yuna appeared stumped, and she inarticulately tried to formulate her thoughts. Finally, she seemed to force herself to speak._

"_He... he asked me to marry him!" she said in an almost hollow voice. She looked to be in danger of going into shock._

"_You serious?" I asked her incredulously. Auron had other priorities._

"_You know what Yuna must do," he told Seymour, approaching him slowly and deliberately. He Halted his approach a few paces in front of the rest of us._

_"Of course. Lady Yuna - no, all summoners - are charged with bringing peace to Spira. But this means more than just defeating Sin. She must ease the suffering of all Spira." Oh, shit. "She must be a leader for the people." Oh, hell. "I proposed to Lady Yuna as a Maester of Yevon." _

_Well, that's just great. So he wants to set up a show-wedding to make Spira happy for a while. Never mind the fact that he doesn't even know Yuna. Never mind the fact she's on a pilgrimage. All that matters to him is making the people happy. An admirable goal, no doubt, but what about Yuna's happiness, eh? Once again, Auron's worries were in a very different vein._

_"Spira is no playhouse," he almost growled, "A moment's diversion may amuse the audience, but it changes nothing."_

"_Even so, the actors must play their parts," Seymour responded, his quick wit, honed through his upbringing, serving him well. He turned back to Yuna, "There's no need to answer right away. Please, think it over." Damn right she will. Maester or no, we won't have her manhandled into a marriage. With few parting words, we departed from his manor, taking seats in the courtyard outside._

_After a short debate between us over the various merits and drawbacks of a union between Yuna and Seymour, in which Yuna tentatively stated that she would continue with the pilgrimage, she told us that she would visit the Farplane and think on it. I had to restrain myself from shouting at all of them, asking them what there was to think on, and why they had no consideration as to her feelings towards it. Does she love him? Does she like him? None of them asked, perhaps held back by the same thing holding me back: respect for Yuna's decision._

_We headed up to the highest levels of the cavern, climbing the massive roots towards our destination. We passed through an enclosed corridor, eventually opening into a cavern far more massive than the one we had left behind. A morphing, changing, swirling yet translucent sphere hung in the air, its lower quarter passing over the path we were on as it headed up into the centre of the sphere. For the first time in Guadosolam, there were rough-cut steps on the main pathway, as this section of root was far steep than the rest. It appeared to have grown towards the sphere by itself, as the root had no other explanation for curving so dramatically in that direction._

_I asked them about how the Farplane worked. So far, no-one had quite taken the time to explain the afterlife to me. Once more, they had just assumed that I knew. When I asked, Wakka brought me back to my age-old excuse of memory loss and told me I would "see once we get there."_

_When we reached the spherical field, Auron stopped, taking a seat against the rail on the stairs. He claimed he didn't belong here, and went on to say that he doesn't need the past to find the future. This being Auron, I let him be._

_Rikku, too, had decided not to go in. She told me how the Farplane worked – that when you recall someone who has died, the pyreflies inside will respond and form an image of them. "Memories are nice, but that's all they are," she had said, before taking a seat for herself. If she wished to see it that way, then she was welcome to. Personally, I was eager to give it a try and see if I could make my old man appear. If he didn't then I could finally confirm whether Auron was telling the truth about him or not._

_I moved towards the sphere. Up close, I could see how all the colours of the rainbow, though predominantly the reds and blues, were vying for position on the curved surface of it. It was a sight to behold, and I thought it a shame that I had to walk through. I tapped it lightly, feeling little resistance yet seeing a slight ripple emanating from where my finger passed through. _Fuck it_, I thought, and simply walked through._

_Inside, there was a vast plain of flowers and waterfalls passing underneath the platform. I could barely believe it, and looked behind me to confirm that I wasn't imagining it; sure enough, the path behind me remained the same. I walked towards the edge, seeing hundreds upon thousands of pyreflies swarming around. I wondered if each one represented a person who had passed on._

_I moved over to stand near Wakka, and heard him pouring his heart out to Chappu. He looked like a younger version of Wakka; leaner, shorter hair and softer features. Still had the trademark quiff, though. I heard Wakka say how he thought, since I showed up, that perhaps Chappu may be alive somewhere, too. Afterwards, I attempted to convince Lulu to move on from Chappu, and perhaps look a little closer at Wakka. I'm not too sure she was pleased about that, but hey, I tried._

_I walked back to Yuna. She told me that she had decided; she would marry Seymour. She justified it by recalling how pleased the whole of Spira had been when Lord Braska had defeated Sin. She felt that, if her wedding could bring that joy to Spira, then it would be worth the potential loss to herself. I couldn't disagree more, yet I encouraged her to continue through with her decision and let Seymour know. It was, after all, her choice._

_Before we left, she asked me to try to call up my old man. I did, and he refused to make an appearance. Seems Auron was right, after all. Yuna, blissfully ignorant of the significance of his non-appearance, seemed pleased that Jecht could be alive, after all. I was far less enthusiastic, and I told her as much. When asked to explain my hatred of him, I told her of how sad he had made my mother when he had left. Upon thinking of my mother, her image appeared before me, allowing me to breathe a sigh of relief to know that she had passed on, rather than becoming a fiend. I continued, telling Yuna how, while Jecht was around, my mother had eyes for no-one else, not even her own son. It was this selfishness of his that eventually lead to me resenting his very existence. With my explanation complete, the five of us who had entered the Farplane left._

_We met up with Rikku and Auron outside. Rikku looked supremely bored, but brightened up as we walked out. Auron looked like Auron. Suddenly, there was a commotion behind us._

_A spirit, in the form of an elderly Guado, was attempting to follow us out. From the cries of the Guado around us, I found out that it was the spirit of Lord Jyscal, their great ex-leader. Auron ordered Yuna to send him, saying that he has no place here, outside of the Farplane. Yuna complied. After, we quickly departed and headed back for the main area of Guadosolam._

_Whilst walking toward the other cavern, we debated Lord Jyscal's surprise attempt to break out of the Farplane. Lulu suggested that he may have once been sent, but a powerful emotion lead him to stay on Spira. She said it was something that had happened to others before. Auron, upon hearing this theory, stated that his re-emergence would imply he 'died an unclean death'. I didn't quite know how to respond to that, and so kept my mouth shut. The others appeared to share my opinion._

_We reached the doors of the manor once more. Yuna began to head inside, intending to speak with Seymour. She only hesitated to hear Auron warn her that Jyscal was the Guado's problem, rather than hers. She did not offer a response, and merely continued on inside the manor. We dispersed, needing to keep ourselves occupied while she found Seymour._

_Rikku and I walked silently together to a balcony overlooking the courtyard. We were both lost in our own thoughts, neither of us looking too pleased with developments. I assumed she was as peeved as I was about the whole thing. She confirmed my thoughts, tremulously asking me "Yunie's not getting married, is she?"_

"_Seems that way," I responded, toeing the railing in front of me._

"_It's your big chance, huh?" she nudged me with her elbow teasingly. I was shocked by her question at first, before I saw she truly was teasing. There was a slight hint in her eyes and manner, however, that I couldn't quite place._

"_I'd rather have you, Rikku," I half-teased back, realising the implications of this discussion. I could see what it was in her now; fear. Of what, exactly, I could not yet be sure, but I felt the need to reassure her, even if it was in a joking way._

"_Oh!" she sounded surprised, "H-honest?" definitely surprised, then. She giggled lightly, giving me a playful punch in the arm, and I was relieved to see her properly smile, this time. She leapt down from the walkway to the one lower down, swivelling around and calling "Syopa Cusatyo!" My Al Bhed wasn't quite that up to scratch, and I didn't understand her. Judging by her manner, however, it was another tease. So, I decided to chase after her. {Maybe Someday}_

_Once I found her again, we had a heartfelt talk about our visions for our own futures. I learned that she hoped to get married and have many children some day. She expanded a little on what I already knew of her family, informing me that her mother had died when a machina went on a rampage. I couldn't help but commiserate, knowing the pain of losing your mother myself. It did depress me a little, our conversation. After all, since I had come to Spira I had given very little thought to the future. For me, I could see one thing only: reaching Zanarkand. Defeating Sin came a distant second to it._

_That night, she taught me some more Al Bhed. I learned many more phrases and improved my grammar, almost to the point where I could hold a basic conversation with her. She was so pleased with my progress that she couldn't sit still for a good half-hour afterwards and, once she could, she was far too worn out to make her way to bed. So, I offered her my shoulder, and she gladly accepted, falling asleep in seconds. I didn't have the heart or energy to move her, so I simply let my head rest on top of hers, the warmth from her small body curled up against mine making me drowsy._

"_Cfaad tnaysc, Rikku," I mumbled into her hair, pulling her closer. {Sweet dreams, Rikku}_

* * *

In the subsequent weeks, I would learn the true nature of the Guado; that their loyalty to their leaders knows no bounds and that they would turn a blind eye to anything said or done by the ones they treasure. I discovered that they would battle to the very ends of the earth on the world of a madman, if only to justify to themselves that he was correct. Months later, they would finally know the truth of their mistakes, and the Guado would never be the same again.

There comes a point where not even a great survivalist race like the Guado can continue. That point was near. I suppose we'll see whether they passed that point, or whether they can come back from the brink once more. One thing is for sure: they will never unquestioningly follow anyone ever again.

* * *

_A/N: Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed._

_With regards to the history lesson: it is all made up. I took what was shown in the game, and expanded upon it. I hope it sounds reasonable._


	5. Chapter 4: FydanPunha

_A/N: I apologize for the long time in-between updates for this. Far too much University work for my own good._

_Thanks to the guys over at DLP for their input on this story. If you have any interest in reading or writing quality fanfiction, check out the DLP forum. Especially if you have in interest in Harry Potter fanfiction. However, they do, quite evidently, cater to other fandoms too._

_Disclaimer: Still don't own FFX or X-2. Syopa cusatyo..._

* * *

_Mistake_

_Chapter 4: Fydan-Punha_

I've always believed that if you're going to do something, you should do it properly. Put your mind, heart and soul into it, and deal with the consequences like a man. On reflection, this is probably why I feel so stupid about this whole thing. I didn't face the consequences of my actions; I hid from them, never admitting to either side what had happened, and then I buggered off, ran from what I had done. It stopped being my mess to deal with. Well, somehow, some _way_, I'm going to make it my mess again. And I'm going to fix it. For now, though, I'm stuck here. Still.

The only signs of the passage of time in this place are the changing surroundings and the seemingly chronological scenes that swim before me from the outside world. Unless they are being sorted into order after the fact, then this realm at least appears to be within the same time-frame as Spira.

Though I try not to wonder what and where this place is, the human mind cannot help but attempt to rationalise it. So, I occasionally stopped shutting off the stream of consciousness from my brain and gave it a listen.

From what I had been able to surmise, this was not the farplane. The pyreflies would only appear when the fayth were present, disappearing immediately after the fact, and I could not request them to make themselves into the forms of the dead. Aside from eliminating the farplane, I could only speculate as to my location.

The way the fayth speak of it, I would have to assume that the place where I am is not a natural place to be. After all, there would surely be others here if that were the case, wouldn't there? Bahamut said that I was like them, only not. Perhaps I had found a way into the world of the immortals, and this... could be their way of travelling between worlds, between times, between fabrics of reality. Or perhaps this is the waiting room, where the souls of the living should pass through before reaching the farplane, only my name had yet to be called. No, that would suggest that souls should pass through here regularly, and there have definitely not been any random souls passing me by. Believe me, I'd have noticed.

One thing that surprised me, shortly after I had settled down here for the long haul and begun to really _think_, was the missing presence of my father. Surely, if the both of us were just dreams, who had travelled to Spira, and defeated Sin as guardians of Summoners, then the both of us should be here. After all, our story doesn't really differ, in terms of origins and where we ended up, does it? Yet, my father is not here. Perhaps... he was allowed to rest. He was, after all, trapped inside Sin for years, forced to watch as Yu Yevon's monster tore entire armies to shreds, ripped towns from under the feet of townspeople, and oppressed an entire civilisation. No, I don't think that, after what he had been through, he would have been too happy to be where I am now. He probably would have found a way to move on, to be granted his eternal rest.

If he did, then I'm glad. At least one of us found a way out of here.

A wave of pure _power_ washed over me, startling me to the point where, if I still had a corporeal form, I'm sure I would have had a heart attack. It seemed to originate from a point far away, at a slight angle to where the fayth normally approach; that's another thing, they always seemed to approach from the same place. Something to consider later. This wave, this surge, carried with it not heat, or wind, or earth, or anything that one would normally associate with an explosion. No, this wave spoke of one thing and one thing only – pure malice. There was no fury, no hatred, no emotion; only the single-minded goal of destruction.

It came once more, and I got the change to truly observe it. The pulse itself was expanding, yet it had clearly occurred a great distance away for I could not see its origin. The burst of power appeared to be much like magic I had seen performed on Spira, specifically by Yuna herself, yet this could in no way have come from Yuna. With her, everything has an emotion associated with it; anger, hope, despair, joy – you name, she's felt it and applied it. This ever expanding surge, however, carried no emotion, only the guarantee of annihilation. The prospect would have sent shivers down me, were I able to do so.

As quickly as it had begun, the feeling ended. The power receded, and I was able to take stock of my surroundings once more. The colours, for lack of a better term, had now increased a hundredfold, both in activity and abundance. They swirled manically, constantly shifting tone and shape, and I felt my vision become blurred and start to get sucked in to them. I blinked, the sensation stopping. They threatened to again pull my consciousness into them, but I checked myself. They called out to me, powers of the Ages swamping over me, again and again. I vowed never to stare at them again, lest I lose myself forever.

Among the colours, I could see a familiar sight. The pyreflies approached, once more. This time, they did so with great haste, rather than the patience that I had come to associate with the fayth. Yards, or perhaps parsecs, from me, they stopped, forming a warrior I had met twice before.

"Tidus," Yojimbo greeted, Kogoro settling at his feet. "regretfully, I have no time for pleasantries, so I shall get to the point. The attack which you no doubt witnessed a short time ago originated from within the farplane. The forces which we have been fighting to contain unleashed a weapon we had no idea they possessed, and we fear we will no longer be able to control their expansion."

"Who are they?" I asked him, the fairy tales of my childhood coming to the fore, leading me to imagine great beasts sporting wide, leathery wings. "What do they want?"

"They want nothing, material-wise. We have nothing to offer them, for they wish nothing but our destruction. Not just fayth, not even Spira, but the flow of life and death on this planet itself," Yojimbo showed no emotion, delivering the news in a monotone and offering no facial expression. I assumed he was applying his years of training as a warrior monk, much like Auron. Only Yojimbo had centuries of experience on Mr. Legendary Guardian.

"They wish to end life on Spira?" I failed to contain my shock and fear, my voice hitching slightly. "Who the_ fuck_ are they?"

"They are of the Old World, contained within this planet by the farplane itself. You see, they cannot cross through the barriers separating the mortal world and the land of the deceased. However, recent events on the surface have lead to cracks appearing in the fabric of our very existence," he lectured, a note of reverence slowly working its way into his voice. "We know not of their form, only that they were once hallowed beings, much like all others of the old world. Somehow, they betrayed their fellows, leading them to be damned to imprisonment within the confines of our planet. We can only assume that, during the long millennia that have passed since the time of the Old Ones, their existence has turned from what was surely a beneficial one to what it is now; a single purpose, a single passion, a single determination. That goal is to tear the thin threads holding life on this planet together apart.

"We will endeavour to stop them, but there is little we can do now, not with Shuyin-"

He had stopped speaking suddenly, his eyes becoming slightly wide. From his manner, I could only assume he had said something which he should not have. I wasn't going to let him off the hook.

"Who is Shuyin? What has he done to help them?" I demanded, righteous anger spilling into my voice, causing it to shake slightly. Fuck, if this man was going to help them burn the world to ashes, then who was I to let him continue?

"I have said too much. Farewell, Tidus, and I sincerely hope I do not have to return with more bad news," he backtracked hastily, retreating from me and dispersing into pyreflies.

"Oh, great, thanks. I would help, and all, but I guess I'm still stuck here, too, y'know?" I called after him, feeling a little like my old self again by questioning those who are, no doubt, the authority.

The pyreflies appeared to hesitate, before returning towards me slightly and forming his head, floating above a trail of pyreflies which, had they been physical manifestations, would have formed his spine.

"I will speak to the others. With recent events, there may still be hope for you. Shuyin's actions may yet play into our hands," he told me, before departing for good.

Well, wasn't that eventful? I suppose this new-found hope for my return would be cause for celebration, if only it wasn't due to a madman assisting what, from Yojimbo's description, appear akin to devil spawn in wiping all remnants of life off Spira.

_How could one man have so much power?_ I wondered to myself. From what I had seen on Spira, no single person could possibly have the capability to create an explosion that rips and tears its way through the boundaries keeping our world from imploding. No, this would have to be either a group of people, or something that was no longer human, rather it had become something more. Something far more sinister, more daring, more damn powerful than anything a human could ever achieve. Something long _dead_.

If there was one thing I had learned from my time on Spira, it was that the dead have power. The Maesters were all unsent, yet they commanded the highest offices in all of Spira. The fayth had deceased centuries ago, yet they were the only ones capable of granting the power to defeat Sin. For a Summoner to defeat Sin, using the method endorsed by Yevon, the Summoner and a most faithful Guardian would have to die. It stands to reason, then, that something so astronomically powerful, so as to score an outright victory against the fayth, would be dead.

The colours in front of me began to show the outside world once more. People were moving in droves, hundreds, thousands all travelling to the same point. Not just humans, either, as I could see Hypello, Ronso and Guado standing side-by-side. Yevonites and Al Bhed mixing together, mixing peacefully en masse for the first time, at least so far as I knew.

They had gathered in the south of the Thunder Plains. The fiends had seemingly disappeared, leaving a wide-open space where crowds could stand quite happily (except for the Ronso – those horns look like lightning rods!) to watch what was unfolding. At the apex of it all sat an airship, the same one I had seen when the images had first begun, all those... weeks? Months? I had no perspective as to the passage of time within the in-between. And on that deep red airship stood Yuna, like I had never seen her before.

_Seems Yuna grew a talent out of nowhere_, I thought, watching her belting out a number under the spotlights, _'cause she never did this on the pilgrimage. Who knows, maybe this is what she spent her time before saving the world doing._

Behind her, out of the spotlights, stood a group who I could only assume were the crew for the airship. There was Brother, who hadn't changed one bit from what I could see. Beside him stood two other Al Bhed, both who I recognised from the first images, the same ones Rikku had talked to. In front of them was a tall woman. My first thought was that Lulu had changed her style, but, as she raised her eyes from where they had been staring at the deck, I could see this was most definitely not Lulu. Besides, she had a far slighter built. Lulu would need surgery to get into that top. And alongside her stood Rikku.

_Looking a bit more grown up, aren't we?_ I wondered, giving her a once-over. Maybe twice. Can you blame a guy? I don't get much female company round here! _I wonder how long it took Cid and Brother to recover from the heart attacks that outfit on their 'little Rikku' gave them?_For she was definitely still little – a clear couple of inches shorter than Yuna, who had never been especially tall herself. Aside from the obvious lack of clothing, the changed outfit and style leant her a more adult look. It suited her, I had to admit.

The stage suddenly became a cityscape, as a three-dimensional image of Zanarkand was projected around the airship and onto the plains. Yuna continued on, unaffected, but the crowd – and myself, for that matter – reacted with surprise. They clearly hadn't expected this.

_I guess Seymour wasn't the only guy with one of these projectors. But this one is _huge_!_

The cityscape continued to grow, and soon the plains were no longer visible. Zanarkand stretched as far as the eye could see, before the projection stilled. A burst of pyreflies appeared to leave Yuna, rising about fifty feet before turning to flame and spreading out around the projection dome. It took Zanarkand with it, leaving an image of a terrifying mechanical face and a man standing before it. I took the opportunity to study this man. He appeared very similar to myself, though more stocky. He walked towards an organ, situated on top of the mechanical _thing_ which dominated the projection. Yuna stood at what appeared to be the base of it, singing still.

Without warning, Yuna's appearance changed. He hair lengthened, and her features appeared to curve more greatly. Other than that, there were no clear differences. Still she sang, though a copy of her image branched away from her, appearing to be acting out a sequence. The image shouted at the not-me, who had, by now, sat at the organ on top of the mechanical beast and appeared to be controlling it, if the cannon extending from the beast was any indication. At her shout, he stopped, running to and embracing her.

A line of warrior monks, similar to those which had opposed us on the pilgrimage in Bevelle, advanced towards the couple. They looked resigned to their fate, and, if the smiles they flashed each other were any indication, were glad to be with each other at that moment. The monks killed them.

Not-Yuna had continued to sing on, and now seemed to have Yuna herself singing with her in duet. _This keeps getting weirder by the minute_, I thought, feeling rather bemused by the spectacle.

With a final flourish, the song drew to a close, and the projection stopped. As the Thunder Plains appeared once more around the crowd, they stood in stunned silence. Yuna collapsed on the stage, Rikku and the other woman rushing to her aid. The woman took her inside, while Rikku stood a little longer on the deck of the airship.

There's another change. Before, she, quite literally, wouldn't have been caught dead standing out in the open like that on the Thunder Plains. I think I still have the bruises to prove it.

* * *

_Thunder Plains, South_

_8.20am_

_From the moment we had set foot in the Thunder Plains early this morning, it was clear that Rikku was very displeased with us crossing them. After claiming to have forgotten something – and receiving a proverbial kick in the backside by Auron – she proceeded to devolve into a shaking, chattering bundle of nerves. I grew very worried for her, particularly after an, in hindsight, amusing episode where she ran screaming upon the appearance of a lightning Elemental and Imp. I could have sworn that Auron and the Imp shared a wearied sigh at that. At the time however, I was more preoccupied with retrieving her, despite her rather loud protests._

"_I am not fighting them. No way. Nuh uh. I'm going this way." She said all this in one breath, trying to pull me in the opposite direction all the while._

"_Sorry, Rikku. Protect the Summoner, and all that jazz." I tried to sound apologetic, but what the hell was she doing?_

_A burst of lightning struck the ground not ten yards from us, and Rikku went from pushing with all her might in that direction to shrieking and succeeding in removing all circulation from my right hand, due mainly to the fact that she had pretty much her entire body wrapped around my lower arm._

"_Ah, so that's what the problem is," I sighed, her fears becoming clear. "Stick close to me, I'm taller. They'll hit me first, right?"_

_This seemed to relax her slightly, though not by much. The outward signs had disappeared, but her anxiety was clear from the fact that she refrained from making any sort of wisecrack to me about being hit first._

_We continued on up the plains, stopping to fight repeatedly. We had to take lunch in shifts in the shelter of a lightning rod tower, and all of our moods had gone right past sour to downright bitter. It didn't help that the rain was heavy and _just wouldn't stop_. Barring that, and a short stop to talk to Shelinda – news travels seriously fast here, it seems, especially considering we hadn't actually told anybody about the proposal (suspicious, hmm?) - we continued on unhindered by anything but fiends for the rest of the day's travel._

_By the time the agency came into view, it was no doubt nearing time to stop again for a quick dinner before the final leg of the day. However, a certain Al Bhed clearly had other ideas about where, when and how long we should stop. I commiserated with her, and a short episode later we were safely inside the travel agency._

_Yuna had immediately rented out a room for herself, moving off down the hall before anyone had a chance to speak to her. I wasn't the only one confused, as Lulu and Wakka both appeared baffled by her demeanour._

_The rest of us settled down for dinner, ordered from the agency. Conversation was sparse, as we all found ourselves feeling weary after the unpleasant hike. Wakka kept shooting furtive glances at the corridor down which Yuna had disappeared, and Lulu kept swatting him on his arm as he did so, trying to calm him. Eventually, we finished, and dispersed around the room. Well, most of us._

"_Look, if you're not going to check, I will," I told Wakka, as he was unable to settle himself and begun fidgeting with him guard. With that, I walked down the corridor. I stopped at the first room I came across, and peeked through the keyhole. Seeing nothing due to the tiny area visible, I tried to move my eye closer to the hole to gain a better view. I moved too far._

_As I toppled into the room, I considered my situation quite seriously. To anyone who hadn't seen the whole thing, it would seem like I was a peeping Tom. Thus, to Yuna, I must have appeared one. This did not put me in good stead to explain the situation._

"_Y-yes?" Yuna asked, turning unsteadily from the table she had been facing._

"_I... well... it's nothing really, I.. I just, uh..." I fumbled for something to say. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come in." Luckily, Yuna inadvertently gave me an out. "H-Hey! Wasn't that that Lord Jyscal guy?" Smooth._

_Yuna had tried to hide it, but I had gotten a good look at the image above the sphere before she had been able to turn it off. She resigned herself to the fact, and nodded in acquiescence._

"_The sphere is his will... it says, 'Take care of my son'." She spoke carefully, as if she was struggling over the world. I ignored the manner of saying it, in favour of the content. For now._

"_His son...? Seymour?" She nodded again. "Well, I know one way to take of him."_

"_I'm sorry," she apologised, rushing out of the room. _Well, that was unexpected_._

_I approached the sphere warily, looking at every part of it I could. It was a translucent blue hemisphere, within which a gas, or misty liquid, appeared to swirl. It was set in a bronze base, with a decorative pattern ringing the sides of the bronze disk used. I began to pick it up, only to be rudely interrupted._

"_What do you think you're up to?" Wakka demanded of me, gripping me tight in a headlock. Hypocrite._

"_Yuna... Yuna was acting funny, s-so..." I tried to explain myself. Why he objected, I have no idea. Wasn't he the one ready to go walking down before me?_

"_Yeah, yeah!" He dismissed my explanation immediately. "She'll tell us when she's ready, so hold your chocobos till then, ya?" Seemed Lulu had managed to change his mind on that front. Or maybe he just didn't approve of it being me to come into her room and check. Probably the latter, if I'm honest with myself._

_He let me go, and the two of us returned to the reception area. Rikku and Lulu were both giving me curious looks, but I shook my head. Taking Yuna at her word, there was nothing of significance to __discuss. It was clear that there was more to it, and that it was troubling her, but I had no idea what __that was. I would have to wait to find out._

_We settled down for the evening. As the evening passed into night, more and more of our group went off to sleep. I remained, until the last of them had gone off to their rooms. I sat, watching the rain coursing down outside. I very much doubted it would relent by the time we left, if ever. I asked the agency clerk as much._

"_No, it always rains here. The stories say that one of the beings of the old world, 'Fydan-Punha', presided over the plains. They say that he and his kin ruled over the plains for hundreds of years, and that they were the lushest, most fertile plains in all of Spira." She was clearly passionate about her story, as her eyes had misted over as she talked, staring out the window and into millennia long since past. "They say that one day, an evil man who lived on his lands lead a coup against him, and usurped his position. They killed him, but before he departed this life, he cursed this land to forever be damned by thunderstorms. And so, the Thunder Plains were born."_

_I was impressed. I had heard few stories of Spira's mythology, with only Maechan seeming to take an interest in Spira's ancient past, beyond simply the teachings of Yevon. I had no idea that there were stories such as these, and I told her as much._

"_Oh, most people don't like to talk about them any more. They see only as far as Yevon wants them to. That is, they see as far as Zanarkand. Us Al Bhed, and the Guado before Lord Jyscal, and the Ronso before Elder Kelk, and the Hypello, we all hold on to these stories. Even if they are not true, they definitely give the land more character." She said this with a smile, though I could see her reluctance to discuss Al Bhed goings-on with a man who she perceived as a Yevonite. I decided to dispel that notion._

"_Well, I find it quite fascinating. And that name, Fydan-Punha, that sounds Al Bhed to me. Water... something?" She brightened considerably as I reassured her._

"_Well, it's not Al Bhed, but rather Old Spiran. The literal translation remains the same between the two languages, and I would go so far as to say that the meaning from the name was what gave rise to the words we Al Bhed use today. It literally means 'Water-Borne', and the words for water and birth in Al Bhed are taken from it."_

"_Of course. I knew I recognised 'water', and the verb 'to be born' is so similar." I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Standing there, wrapped up in a duvet in her pyjamas, was Rikku. She looked tired, yet still strung up. However, she had a smile on her face._

"_I knew you were learning well," she spoke softly, shuffling closer. The clerk retreated back to her room behind the counter with a smile. "I just didn't realise quite how well you were understanding it." By now she had reached me, and tucked herself under my chin. I wrapped my arms around her and her duvet, chuckling lightly._

"_Hey, come on, I'm not useless, am I? I can learn," I jested with her, glad to see her in better spirits now. "Besides, you're my teacher. You should know better than anyone how well I was doing."_

"_It can be tricky for a teacher. After a while, you could still be simply regurgitating what I've told you, rather than understanding it and making your own connections. I'm glad you are learning so well, means we might actually be able to talk properly to each other soon," she had a smug smile on her face at this. "Then we can have completely private conversations without the others finding out a thing about what we're saying."_

"_And why might we want to do that, missy?" I looked down at her, raising an eyebrow and giving her a dirty grin. She swatted my chest in response, giggling lightly._

_I lead her over to the corner of the long sofa, putting my feet up on it and inviting her to curl up alongside me. She complied readily, once more tucking her head under mine. Her hand snuck out and got a light grip of my other shoulder, holding the two of us in place._

"_Couldn't sleep?" I asked her gently making eye contact. She shook her her in response, closing her eyes and snuggling up close. She sighed dramatically._

"_Just because we're inside doesn't make the fear much better," her point was proved as a lightning bolt struck the rod on the roof of the agency, sending a semi-loud bang through the walls of the building. She jumped, wrapping herself around me much more tightly. I, too, sighed, resigning myself to not getting any rest until she eventually passed out from exhaustion. I held her close stroking her hair lightly with one hand and making a light 'shh' sound. It seemed to help, as she relaxed herself._

"_Thanks, Tidus," she murmured, barely audible over the splatter of raindrops on the windows and roof. "Thanks for understanding," it was clear that, this time, she wasn't talking about my language skills._

"_My pleasure," I reassured her, giving her a light squeeze. She now, finally, appeared entirely comfortable, and so we talked. Well, she talked._

_I heard of how she had first come to be afraid of the lightning, because of a mistake by her brother when she was young. She moved on to explain what it was like growing up with her older brother, always trying to protect her yet making a meal of it. She assured me that she appreciated the effort, but wished he would stop trying. It was one of the reasons she took on the salvage jobs, trying to escape the bubble he tried to form around her. It was sheer bad luck with the rotations that put them on the same ship when they found me, and therefore making her only the second-in-command. That's another thing – seems that, despite her being so highly-ranked, crew dynamics meant the fact that the commanding officer on the salvage ship turned a blind eye to the abuse made it fair game to beat me up. Well, shit._

_Minutes, hours later she finally stopped talking. It wasn't that she was tired, or out of breath; just that her train of thought had ended. We lay in comfortable silence for an indeterminate time, before I took over. I told her of growing up, of how my Old Man was such an arsehole, and how poor mum let herself be dominated by him. Of how her loneliness after losing him lead her to waste away, and eventually take her own life. How Auron took over as somewhat of a surrogate father or uncle, yet never allowed himself to get too close. Of joining the Abes development squad at fourteen, and eventually rising to the firsts and trying to break out of the shadow of my old man. Of the attack, and then, later, arriving in Besaid. Of what I had seen, and heard, and smelt, and-_

_Neither of us got any sleep that night._

* * *

The pyreflies were coming back, two distinct sets of them this time. I wondered what they would have to say to me, so soon after their previous visit. Their progress felt agonisingly slow, the pyreflies appearing to battle through an unseen, tumultuous current. Moments, or days, later both Bahamut and Yojimbo were before me, Bahamut taking the fore whilst Yojimbo kept back.

"What you saw on the Thunder Plains was a piece of history," he began immediately, for once foregoing the pleasantries and getting down to business. It was refreshing, if a little disconcerting. It could mean that they were in a rush, or were under pressure. That was not a happy thought. "The sphere that created the projections was created by one Lenne, a songstress of the true Zanarkand, one thousand years ago. It contains her memories, her skills; an essence of her very soul. What it showed tonight was how she died alongside her lover in the underground of Bevelle. That lover was Shuyin.

"The beast that Shuyin was controlling, before she stepped in, was known to its creators as Vegnagun. It was designed and built by the army of Bevelle, to combat Zanarkand in their war. With it, their armies would have crushed the Summoners of Zanarkand. There wouldn't have been a Zanarkand left to defend. It is even likely that there wouldn't have been a Spira to defend if its full power were unleashed." His eyes, until now unreadable and emotionless, gained a fire. One that spoke of a thousand years of wrath bestowed upon those who have wronged him and his subjects. I was forcefully reminded of the power that Bahamut's small image hid, and the might of his Aeon.

"Right now, Shuyin seeks Vegnagun within the Farplane. He seeks to use it, to break apart the barriers separating life and death, and to force his way out. He seeks his lover, but he has been blinded by his hatred and jealousy of the living. His essence, a small part of him containing only his hatred of those in the world above, has succeeded in seeping out into a small cavern within Mushroom Rock. Your friends will encounter it soon." I looked at him sharply at that, cursing my inability to assist them. "If they are strong of will, which they are, then they will prevail. Do not fear.

"He knows nothing of the beings which he shall set free with his actions. If he did, it is unlikely his path would deviate. So, we must either stop him, or prepare for the worst. Preferably both. This is why I am telling you. We do not know what might happen in the coming hours, days, weeks and months, but we had best be prepared for anything." He looked apologetic for a moment, but it was quickly hidden. "I am... sorry that you were not informed earlier, but I'm sure you can understand that not only is our job busy, but it also requires secrecy."

"Of course," I agreed, any resentment over their treatment of me dissolving at the magnitude of the situation they found themselves in. Not just them, for I was in this too. "I just have a few questions. One, if he does succeed and brings down the barriers, then what will happen? Will I come back, only for the entire world to collapse? Because the farplane can't work without the barriers, can it? And life and death don't happen either, right? Two, how can he be stopped? You said it yourself, he's in the farplane. If you can't stop him down there, then who can?"

"Let us hope that it does not come to that. Your friends, however, have already found a way down to the farplane once, and can do so again. They know of Shuyin, and a little of the threat he presents. They will try and stop him, without doubt. Beyond that, I would rather not discuss. Suffice to say, it would not end well for Spira."

With that, he up and left. Yojimbo gave me a slight nod, and an assurance that he will help my friends wherever possible, before he too left.

I was alone with my thoughts once more.

* * *

_A/N: Tidus's bemused reaction mirrors my own when watching both the concert (including the one at the start of the game) and the Shuyin-Lenne scene originally._

_Next chapter, I plan to really kick-off the present-day action._

_As always, I'd be glad if you left a review with your thoughts. I know this chapter is a little shorter, but, on the advice of some people who know a lot more about writing and reading than I, I'm trying to cut down on the recap of what we already know in the game. Only those scenes which are essential to either show what Tidus is seeing or what has affected the previously unknown situation in the past are described._

_Cheers._


	6. Chapter 5: Chances

_A/N:So, I'm back. Now that exams are over at Uni and I am back in the swing of everyday living, I hope to pick up the pace in writing this. We shall see if I can hold myself to that._

_I've decided to split this story into multiple arcs. The first, I have labelled as beginning in chapter one. I would have marked it in the prologue, but apparently I can't edit that file anymore. No matter, the point is delivered across. I might even use it to my advantage, introducing small interludes (the second of which I have already written a scene for!) in-between each arc. There will be a marked change in atmosphere, tone and direction in each of the arcs. I think._

_I have also now begun planning ahead. Shock horror!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own FFX or X-2._

* * *

_Mistake_

_Chapter 5: Chances_

_Macalania Forest, Central_

_4.02pm_

_I dived under the flailing arm of the Chimera, tucking into a roll before I made contact with the ground as a huge ice cube flew past my head to impact with the chimera. As I uncurled myself, I saw Kimarhri's eyes widen as he recovered from casting the spell. From the corner of my eyes I glimpsed the snake head rear back and plunge toward me from high on my right. I acted instinctively, swiping out with my sword in a wild downwards slash, starting from above my right shoulder and finishing with both arms continuing to swing with the momentum of the sword and causing the hilt of the sword to impact with my planted left thigh, the leg I was driving off. I fell to the floor as my leg buckled, dropping my sword from the shock to the hilt._

_I barely felt the spray of blood from the now-severed snake tail, or the gargled hiss from its head, for the entire body had now turned toward me. Ignoring the efforts of Auron and Kimahri, the two who had divided off with me to take on this Chimera, as the three ladies plus Wakka had squared off against the other. The Chimera charged, a flame building fast in its curled fist. Without my sword, I could only scramble to my feet and begin to attempt to dive away, but it was clear I would never rise in time. The flaming fist reared back, the Chimera not three yards from me by now. It's beak screeched in fury, the fist driving toward my head-_

_The forest tumbled around me as I rolled through the air and hit the ground painfully. I tried to gasp for air, only to find my chest constricted by something. I looked down, and was surprised to find that what was preventing me from breathing in was in fact petite, blond and most definitely not hostile. I started, returning my attention to where I had last seen the Chimera. Only to see a cloud of pyreflies and a disgruntled-looking Auron cleaning his blade from where it had decapitated the eagle head of the Chimera. Danger gone, I could worry about regaining control over my own respiration._

_I poked Rikku gently in the back of her head. Finding her unresponsive, I poked a little harder. Still not being deigned with a response, I pinched her on the neck. Hard._

"_OI!" she screeched, suddenly raising her face from where it had been buried in my chest. "That's no way to treat your saviour!" she continued shrilly, and I noticed the slight tears in the corner of her eyes. She saw the direction of my gaze, and closed her eyes, briefly rubbing her face on the join between her arm and my shoulder. When she reopened her eyes, it was as if they had never been there, and she had regained her typical smirk. "You owe me, slow poke! And I will be calling in payment in cake. Three should do."_

"_Fine, three cakes it is," I responded over the chuckles from Wakka and Yuna. "And thank you. Just make sure not to lie on top of me next time. You weigh a tonne! Probably all those cakes from your previous favours."_

_Adopting an offended look, she punched me lightly in the arm as I stood up. "I'll have you know I'm perfectly a perfectly healthy weight for my age. And you're the one who can afford to lose a few pounds, fatty. Moving you out the way of that Chimera was harder than getting Kimahri over here to have a friendly chat about blitzball. Impossible!" The man – or Ronso – himself snorted, starting to turn an continue down the path to the wood, before stopping in mid-motion. His eyes were glued to a spot behind where Yuna and Lulu were standing._

_As all of us turned to look, a pair of Xiphos streaked out of the woods, leaping through the air with blades extended. One heading for each of them. Neither stood a chance of blocking the attack, as both had been caught completely off guard. As they ducked in vain, the rest of us sprang into action. Well, Auron and Kimahri sprang into action. Whilst myself, Wakka and Rikku fumbled with our weapons, Kimahri unleashed a torrent of flame upon them and Auron swung his sword in a wide arc, cutting the now-cooking Xiphos through the middle. This time, we had gotten away with it._

_As the pyreflies swarmed away from Yuna and Lulu, they cleaned themselves of the innards of the fiends and prepared themselves for a grilling of a different kind from Auron. The rest of us tried to hide from his ire as best we could._

_It had been quite the interesting little tour thus far. We'd met fiends, other fiends, more of the first fiends, and, sometimes, big fiends! At least the scenery was nice. They never had places quite like this in Zanarkand, and I very much doubt there's anywhere in Spira – besides, perhaps, the Moonflow at sunset – which can match this place for sheer beauty._

_Another thing that had made the journey considerably more enjoyable was that Rikku had cheered up in spades as soon as we crossed the threshold from the Thunder Plains to here. No longer jumping every couple of seconds, or whimpering in fear, she returned to one of her favourite activities: keeping everyone else on their proverbial, and sometimes literal, toes._

"_So, Wakka; if you had to choose just one, who would it be?Dona or Belgamine? Personally, I think Dona's really got the exotic side nailed. But, then again, Belgamine has that whole teacher-student vibe going..."_

_Yeah, that's our Rikku._

_Whilst Wakka tried to sputter out some kind of a dignified response, Yuna and I increased our pace, moving a few yards ahead of the others. By mutual agreement, we spent the first few minutes in comfortable silence, simply paying attention to the road ahead and our surroundings. With no fiends seeming to be lying in wait, Yuna asked after my health following the previous run-in with the Chimera._

"_Oh, I'm fine. A few bruises here and there, but nothing to worry about," I reassured her. "You guys have any difficulties with the other?"_

"_More than we should have. There were more of us fighting that one, yet we could not deal with it fast enough. We do not want to run the risk of the same thing happening again and Rikku not being quick enough to move you out of the way, do we?" she answered, sounding quite put out at their performance. It was true, we had felt ourselves strong as a group, encountering few difficulties in the Thunder Plains. It appeared that we had assumed too much about the relative strengths of the fiends in the two regions._

"_Then I'll have to make sure there isn't a next time. It all started because I got carried away with attacking it on my own. I ignored our training and leapt in. But hey, no harm done, right?"_

"_Perhaps, but you should have done better. You still have much to learn," intoned a voice from behind us. Auron stepped between us, moving to the front of the group. "You are not the only one, either. We must improve collectively, if we are to reach Zanarkand."_

_Any further pondering about our abilities, or lack thereof, was interrupted by the arrival of Barthello, his long legs carrying him through the woods at quite a pace as he called after his absent Summoner. After some stern advice from the brooding guardian standing in front of us, we continued on._

_The rest of the days travel passed with little fanfare, and we settled in for the night within a few hours' walk of the edge of the woods. Auron, however, advised against travelling into the night. Apparently, the woods don't lend themselves to safe passing in the night hours. We set up camp, and tucked in._

_A heavy night of sleep later – my body was apparently desperate for sleep after being deprived of it the previous night, we made to continue our hike through the woods. There were less fiends on the roads in this area, and we found our path unimpeded for the most part. It appeared we had saved quite some time with the decrease in activity, for Auron decided to take us on a detour._

"_It won't take long," he said. And it didn't... once the fiends were gone. So, it seems my old man could accept his situation. Accept that he was never going back, back to his home, to Zanarkand. And if he could do it; if that sad old man, who so loved his fame and his own success, could leave it all behind and begin anew with his new-found friends, then maybe I could, too._

_We departed for the Lake, where we found an agency and Clasko, who had been left behind by the other Chocobo Knights but was still in good spirits. Seems he has a thing for looking after the overgrown canaries. I guess you learn something new every day._

_Later that evening found Wakka and I discussing the various merits and demerits of running a blitzball team with one or two strikers. As a striker myself, I was prone to advocating offence over all else. Wakka, though a forward himself, was also a team captain, and valued possession far more than all-out firepower. Rikku, the only one of the others showing any interest at all in the direction of the conversation, supported whatever the Al Bhed Psyches happened to be utilising at that particular moment. Of course, she never mentioned them by name to Wakka, but he could never read between the lines anyway. At the next table sat Auron and Yuna, discussing the path ahead and the relative benefits of using either the north path or the south path across the gorge to Macalania Temple. Kimahri and Lulu simply stood and brooded._

"_I'm telling you, the Fangs and the Beasts have the right idea in going to a 2-2-1. They don't have much in the way of striking talent, so they're playing to their strengths and using their size to dominate the middle and keep possession. It can let them nab a goal every now and then, especially with that playmaker of theirs," Wakka offered, gesticulating extravagantly as he spoke._

"_So what if they have a playmaker, they don't have enough people their to finish the attacks!" I argued, sticking to my guns. It helped that working Wakka up was always bound to be funny, so long as he didn't thwack you with his arms as he got excited. That just hurt. Rikku simply sat back, crossing her arms over her chest and struggling to stop her smile. She knew what I was doing, and wasn't about to stop me short. Excellent._

"_Sure it works for the Goers, but that's just them. For the rest of us, getting the ball up the field using just two defenders and a centre isn't going to work!" Wakka's flailing elbow knocked over a neat stack of booklets on the windowsill next to us, causing the attendant to curse in Al Bhed._

_A few minutes of working him up later, Wakka managed to knock a tray of drinks clear from the attendants hands. All over Auron. Some reshuffling later, myself and Rikku were alone at our table while Auron had dried off and taken a seat on the other side of the agency, grumbling over his not soaked seat. Wakka had been explicitly told by Auron to stay outside until such a time that he regains control over his limbs. I don't think I'd ever seen Lulu quite so amused._

"_So, Tidus," Rikku began quietly, leaning back on the cushioned bench and kicking her legs up on the table, "have you decided what to do about Yunie, yet?"_

_Truly, I hadn't thought much on the decision of which she had spoken of in the Thunder Plains. She had chosen to marry, if only to make the rest of Spira happy. She had avoided telling us whether she even liked the guy. It was her privilege, Auron had said. As long as she faced Sin, it was fine. I voiced my thoughts on this matter in the most eloquent fashion I could muster._

"_Aargh." I buried my head in my hands, elbows leaning on the table in front of me._

_Were it any other subject matter, I'm sure that response would have been giggled at and ridiculed by my companion. But not when it came to Yuna, not in this way._

"_I just don't get it. Why bind herself to someone for the rest of her life, just to give Spira a day of joy? Why is it worth it? And why is it 'okay', according to you lot, that she can give it all up like that?" I rattled off as fast as my mouth would allow me, finally giving voice to the questions I wished I could ask. They all seemed so sure of their positions on this, and the only other who seemed to share my doubt was sitting directly opposite me._

"_Hey, I'm no more happy 'bout this than you are," she countered. "I just want her to be happy, y'know? And this, "she waved her arms around her head for emphasis, "definitely is not making her smile. I wish she wouldn't frown so much."_

_Wakka said it was 'okay'. Auron said it wasn't his concern. Lulu and Kimahri hadn't said a thing. It seems the only ones here who really care about Yuna being happy are sat at this table. Fucking brilliant._

"_Well, what can we do about it?" I asked her, resting my chin on my fists, with what was probably a quite spectacular frown adorning my forehead._

"_You go talk to her," she ordered, poking me in the forehead. Seems it must have been quite the sight. "I already tried my bit, but she won't listen. She sounds like a broken sphere, repeating the same lines over and over. Maybe you can get through to her, eh?" She tried to smile, but it came out rather … forced._

"_Yeah, I just might." Nothing for it then. Now, I simply need the right moment..._

"_And, once you've sorted it out, you can take your own chance, right?" That same smile I'd seen in Guadosolam. Words so similar to those of when she'd last appeared to... push myself and Yuna together. Guess I hadn't made it all that clear, last time._

"_I've told you before, she's not my type." And she wasn't. All the girls I'd dated before, aside from the occasional fan-girl who got through my filtering, had been a different sort to Yuna. Far more outgoing, they made me laugh and want to rip my hair out simultaneously. They were rollercoaster rides, whereas I could already see that being with Yuna would be far more sedate. Perhaps a better way of living your life, but not one that sat well with me. Too little _adventure_, the pilgrimage itself notwithstanding. Once that finishes, what would she do with herself? Politics? Simply stay at home? Not for me, thanks._

"_Oh, and what is your type?" she leaned forward, one elbow resting on the table, the hand attached to it scratching her cheek. Well, ain't that a question. Sure, I had just answered it in my head, but out loud?_

_Well, she had just told me to take my chance. And chances like these don't come along all the time._

"_I meant what I said, in Guadosolam. E't nydran ryja oui, Rikku." {I'd rather have you}_

_I stood up and retired to my room, taking note of the momentary confusion adorning her face before shock, and an impressive blush, took its place._

* * *

Auron had once told me that the only thing you can ever regret is not taking an opportunity when it is presented. We cannot second-guess what we made of the opportunities, but not taking them is a carnal sin to him. I guess that's why he carried me into the heart of Sin that night in Zanarkand, rather than fleeing and finding a way back later. It's also the reason he died.

Regardless, his philosophy had filtered its' way into my own way of thinking. I always took my chances. I tried as best I could at school. I took the one chance I had to impress the Abes' scouts. I scored on my début.

I came to Spira. I made the best of a bad situation. I met the greatest people I've ever known.

I told my father I hate him.

I fell in love.

Thing is, at the time I had no idea what it was. I was seventeen, in a world so different from what I knew, thrust one thousand years into the future. I had a grand total of six people that I could rely on. I was only taking the chances I was presented.

So what was one kiss with a different girl, eh? What would it hurt? Besides, everyone had seemed to think we were meant to be anyways.

Big fucking mistake.

* * *

_Lake Macalania_

_9.13am_

_We had been surrounded._

_If only that idiot Tromell hadn't spouted off about his 'Guado Traditions' then we wouldn't be in this situation. We would have let our guard down and allowed this troop of pissed-off-looking Al Bhed to ambush us. Now it looked like we'd have to fight our way out, unless either myself or, more likely, Rikku did some seriously smooth talking._

_Then again, Rik hadn't exactly been talking too smoothly so far today. In fact she had been a little tongue-tied around me. Fancy that. I wonder what had brought it on._

_Alright, so maybe I was a little smug. Seems my charms work just as well here as they did back in Zanarkand._

_A rumbling interrupted my self-appreciation. It shook the fragile floor on which we stood and, for a few seconds, I believed us to be in read danger of falling straight through. Luckily, the floor held. Unluckily, the cause of the rumbling had appeared. Either the designer had a pretty hefty enemy in his sights, or he was compensating for a lack of size in a different department._

_"Rikku!" Uh oh. "Tuh'd ehdanvana un oui kad drec!" Well, so much for that secret. And was he seriously going to follow up on that threat? Man, he's got issues if he's prepared to blow away his own sister. Then again, he didn't seem all that pleasant on the ship. Luckily, none of the lackeys from that particular journey had showed up today. Lucky for them, that is. {Don't interfere or you get this!"}_

_"Ouin bnaleuic magic yht aeons yna caymat!" I couldn't quite catch all of that. I looked to Rikku for a translation._

"_He's gonna use an anti-magic field on us!" Well, shit. Rikku and I shared a horrified look as Brother went ahead and commanded the machina to attack us._

_Several long, hard minutes later found Lulu and Yuna combining to finish off the machina, taking full advantage of the now-vulnerable machina due to the destruction of its counterpart. I was nursing some heavily bruised ribs, courtesy of a hard fall I had in avoiding a particularly deadly-looking blast from the cannon. Yuna had patched me up as best she could, but her magic was quickly stifled and Rikku had her hands full keeping the machina on its back foot rather than fixing up some bruises. The squad of Al Bhed had wisely stayed out of direct contact. If they had allowed themselves to get within a few yards of Auron he probably would have removed their heads from their shoulders without hesitation. Brother, who was most assuredly the ranking officer, did not look at all pleased with the destruction of his toy._

_"Rikku!" Definitely not pleased. In fact, he looked about ready to hit her. Over my dead- "E femm damm Vydran!" {I will tell Father!}  
_

_Rikku, too, looked extremely pissed-off. She had a huge scowl, and there was an undertone to her voice that I hadn't heard since that night on the ship, as she stood solitary guard between myself and the crew. "E ys dra guardian uv Yuna, oui caa? Yuna ec cyva! Fa femm kiynt ran! Cra ec cyva!" I had no problem understanding that. But I had no idea what that had to do with all this. Weren't they trying to hurt her? Why else would they ambush us? {I am the guardian of Yuna, you see? Yuna is safe! We will guard her! She is safe!}_

_"Oui tu drec ymuha, cecdan!" Nope, still no idea what the hell they're talking about.{You do this alone, sister!}  
_

_I turn to ask her exactly that as she translates for the benefit of the others. Wakka beats me to the punch, however._

"_How come you speak Al Bhed? Why?" Ah, I had forgotten about that. Shit, this could get very ugly very quickly. I tried to formulate an excuse as quickly as I could, but, before I could do anything more than stutter incoherently, Rikku had apparently decided that lies would get her nowhere._

"_Because I'm Al Bhed. And that.. .was my brother."_

_The look on Wakka's face in response to that would have been priceless if the situation were less serious. As it was, I couldn't bear to look at it. To see the look of betrayal, anger, loss and pure, unadulterated hatred spread across it. These were things I could never have imagined Wakka, of all people, experiencing. Not him, he's too simple, too straight-up. But here it was, and it elicited some of the worst feelings I've ever felt. Ugly things, calling on me to take a side, call one of them out. And I was partly disgusted with myself as I found similar feelings spreading through me._

_How could he hate her? He knows her, he knows she's a great girl, that she would never betray us. That she's poured her mind, body and soul into guarding Yuna. I couldn't comprehend it, not having grown up as he had, immersed in a single-minded culture which has oppressed people such as Rikku for who-knows-how-long. It made me sick._

"_You knew?" He asked the rest of us. Well that I could answer. I nodded to him, and felt more anger spread through me as he turned on myself and Lulu, who had also nodded. "Why didn't you tell me?"_

"_We knew you'd be upset," and the award for the understatement of the week goes to: Lulu._

"_This is great. I can't believe I've been travelling with an Al Bhed! A heathen!" Wow, he forgot about all being friends with her pretty fast, didn't he? I didn't know anyone could pack people into boxes so fast! I would have been impressed, if it didn't make me want to mash his face into the ground with my boot._

_From there, it degenerated into a heated argument between the two of them with regards to the contrasting philosophies of the two sides. Tears threatened to leak from Rikku's eyes as the argument went on, no doubt from both frustration with his hard-headedness and a sense of betrayal. As Rikku looked almost ready to give up arguing with him, giving him up as a lost cause, Auron interrupted the two of them._

"_Rikku! Will this move?" Ah, I had forgotten about the snowmobiles the Al Bhed had left behind. They could certainly cut down our journey time to the temple._

_Rikku took the opportunity to get herself away from Wakka. I walked in-between the two as Wakka continued his spiel._

"_We're not using that, are we? Wait... Sir Auron isn't Al Bhed too, is he?" Wow, he really is a deluded bastard. And he had always seemed like an all-round nice guy. Simple, but nice._

"Come on, Wakka," I began.

_"What?" He turned to face me as I continued to voice the thoughts I had been having moments earlier._

"I mean, getting angry just 'cause you found out Rikku's an Al Bhed... You guys got along fine till now, didn't you?"

"That's different. I mean..." despite his words, he seemed unsure. Perhaps I had gotten through to him a little?

"Well, I don't claim to know that much about Spira. And I probably know even less about the Al Bhed, but... I know Rikku's a good person. She's just Rikku!" And if that doesn't sort him out, I don't know what will.

Wakka turned to Lulu, arching one eyebrow speculatively. "Lu?"

Lulu, too, appeared annoyed with his attitude. She just had a different way of expressing it to me. "Just think of this as an opportunity to learn more about the Al Bhed." Learning experience. Right. I bet Wakka loves those.

"Ha!" Wakka's displeasure with the situation had clearly put him past breaking point, so he turned and made towards the temple on foot. I made to follow him, but was stopped by Auron.

_A few minutes later found me driving a snowmobile along a gorge with a lightly blushing Rikku riding behind me. She seemed both shy and clingy at the same time. I assumed my revelations to her were clashing quite badly with her need for comfort after what Wakka had said. I tried as best I could to broach the subject._

"_Sorry about Wakka," I told her, turning my head slightly to allow my voice to be more audible over the whine of the engine sitting between my legs._

"_He didn't have to be so mean, yeah?" Man, she really was shaken up by it. Wakka's lucky not to be in sight right now. "I almost cried."_

"_Uh... Rikku?" Yeah, that had been pretty obvious. She seemed so vulnerable, sitting behind me with her hands grasping at my clothes, as if trying to hold herself from falling apart. As quick as a flash, though, the old Rikku came back._

"_Just kidding!" It was so clearly a mask that, to anyone that truly knows her, it would never hold up. For most of the others, it would be enough. But not for me. "It's okay. At least you're still nice. Hey, do I look like Yunie, you think?"_

"_Huh?" The abrupt change of subject had caught me unawares, and thoughts of masks and true personalities nearly flew from my mind. Almost._

"_Well, my dad's sister is Yunie's mother, you get it?" I'll let her off the hook this time._

"_I had no idea! If you say so."_

"_Mmhmm."_

"_Okay! I guess you're guarding your family, then." No wonder she's so passionate about protecting Yuna. And that explains how her nickname for Yuna came about so fast._

"_Yuna's not the only one that I want to protect." Her voice switched abruptly to a more solemn tone, becoming more mono-tonal yet growing in passion and belief as she spoke. It was as if she was reflecting on some past memory, one which evokes only the most raw of emotions from her._

"_Huh?" Yeah, real smooth answer Tidus. But hey, my mouth can't think for itself._

"_We Al Bhed want to protect all of the summoners, you know? Summoners are... Well, you could say that... they _sacrifice_ themselves to, well...to bring happiness to Spira." That sounded familiar, yet not quite clear._

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Oh!" What?_

"_Rikku?"_

"_Yes?"_

_"Sacrifice themselves?"_

"_You know, the pilgrimage... It, uh, takes a lot out of you?" I suppose, but it doesn't seem like that deters Yuna._

"_Oh, right. But you know, Yuna's real serious about being a summoner. For Yuna, well the pilgrimage kinda means everything to her." That's most definitely true. Even what she believes will bring happiness to all of Spira takes second precedence to her pilgrimage. "You are going to help her, too, aren't you, Rikku?"_

"_Mm."_

"_So you shouldn't say that Yuna's sacrificing herself." In response, Rikku wrapped her arms around me tightly, pressing herself to my back and tucking her head into the back of my shoulder. Definitely not the response I expected, but one I would most certainly have no objection to were I not so worried about her mental state._

"Rikku?"

"_I hope you're right." She seemed to settle in there, closing her eyes and holding me tighter._

_We continued on like that for a further ten minutes, with myself merely driving and enjoying both the view and the feeling of Rik's warm body fitting to mine like we were two pieces of paper. As we passed what Auron had, in his 'briefing' to us this morning, described as the halfway point, I felt Rikku shift slightly, as if rousing herself._

"_Tidus," she said it so quietly in comparison to the ambient noise that I thought, for a moment, that I had imagined it. "Why are _you_ Yuna's guardian?" As she had spoken she had stiffened slight, and had begun to move back from me slightly. I instantly missed the warmth and comfort of her previous embrace._

"_What do you mean?" I asked her, unsure as to what perspective she was taking with the question._

"_I was taking you to Luca. You could have settled in there, found Auron and a team for yourself." Ah. Although I had filled her in on what had happened in her absence, I hadn't quite gone into the underlying reasons._

"_Answers. I need answers. Auron he- he told me some things, bad things, about what had gone on before. About how and why he found me, not too long after my old man had disappeared. He told me about Spira, and how it works._

"_I want to see Zanarkand, too. I was there, Rikku. It was no toxin-induced dream, no delusion from hitting my head. I lived there, for seventeen years. So did thousands upon thousands of others. So how can it have been rubble for a thousand years? How could I have been transported through time like that?"_

_I had stopped talking to her, by this point, and was simply saying what came to mind. Voicing the reasons I had for staying on, for putting my life on the line day after day, month after month. She was right, I could could have chosen to settle in Luca. I could have chosen to find a team, played Blitz, and lived quite comfortably. But I chose to take a chance. And I don't regret a moment of it._

"_I did it for the others, too. I may not have been with them long by the time I accepted a job as Yuna's guardian, but I already considered all of them friends. And I don't turn my back on my friends. Not ever. I guess I owed them one, too."_

_Rikku had grown considerably more comfortable while I had rambled on, and had once again wrapped me up in a warm embrace. I could quickly grow used to these._

"_So it wasn't because... because of Yuna?" she asked tentatively. I could hear a slight waver in her voice, one which I had become accustomed to now. It was the same one as in Guadosolam. The same as in the agency last night. And I instantly knew what her true question was._

"_No. And I don't know why all the others seem to think so." She let out an appeased sigh and tried to mould herself closer to me, succeeding somehow. I leaned back into her slightly, letting her know through my body language that I was really rather pleased with her current position and would not be happy if she chose to move away. The fingers on her one bare hand began to lightly stroke my chest._

_We held the pose all the way to the end of the road, arriving far more short of breath than someone riding a snowmobile sedately had any right to be._

* * *

These memories of happier times flew through my head in one continuous stream as I gaze into the outside world. It is no concert. It is no battle. It is just Rikku. She's lounging on her bed on the huge red airship, fiddling with a pile of machina that surrounds her on all sides. There are smudges of oil and grease on her hands, arms and, just slightly, in her hair from when she had tucked it behind her ear and on her nose from when she had scratched it. She had a slight crease in her forehead as she considered the faulty component in front of her, before she figured out what needed doing and went about it with her smile on her face.

I love her.

The image tore away. Her visage blown to shreds by a non-existent gale. Streaks of colour sped past me in all directions as the non-reality I found myself in shook on its foundations. Unlike the earlier explosion, this appeared to have no origin or time-frame. It did not abate, and it did not lessen. If anything, it did the exact opposite. The lights streaked by faster and in great volume, the usually-consistent background colours now flashing through their unnatural spectrum as the entire plane of existence seemed to quake. I struggled to hold myself in place, but struggled in vain as I had yet to discover the medium for travel in this plane. Instead, I tried to pay as much attention as I could to my surroundings. It was then that I was it.

There was, a great distance from me, a point to which many of the streaks of light seemed to travel. They bent toward it, forming a cyclone at its entrance. The entrance itself was difficult to make out, such was the distance to it, but I was not mistaken.

A tear had formed in the very fabric of this world. And I was slowly moving toward it.

* * *

_A/N: I tried as best I could to keep the recap to a minimum, but it didn't feel right leaving out many of the scenes in the second half of the flashback. And I promise, more of the present will be covered in the next chapter. This just had to be said before I could move on._

_I hope you all enjoyed it. I'm hoping that the flashbacks are now showing greater deviations from what was shown in the game, and that I have not caused any true clashes with the story given in the games. At the end of the day, I want to add to the game's story, not take away from it._

_As always, leave a review if you can. Also, see if any of you can spot some of the tiny references and nods to films/ other fics out there._

_Cheers._


	7. Chapter 6: Execution

_A/N: On a bit of a roll, here. One quick warning to those who may be affected by it: This is the first chapter to really justify the M rating, in my opinion, as there is a pinch of lemon juice in this chapter. Not the full lemon, but I won't be going that far in writing this fic. At least I don't think so. However, if you are offended by what's underneath people's tops then make sure to skip from about three-quarters of the way into the chapter.  
_

_Alternatively, if bouncing mammaries is all you're here for, then skip to that point. Either way, I felt it worth mentioning._

_Disclaimer: I do not own FFX or X-2. _

* * *

_Mistake_

_Chapter 6: Execution_

With each passing moment, the tear appeared to grow both in size and in violence. Around it were smaller cracks, little rips that would clearly buckle should the stress caused by the reality failing around me continue at its present level. Out of the tear came bursts and pulses of light, the inverse of those flying into the tear. These pulses did not appear to interact with those flying in, merely continuing into the reality I found myself in and eventually dissipating.

A force had latched onto me, likely the same force pulling the world around me toward the gaping wound in reality. It seemed to grab at me, pulling on my very essence, and inching me closer and closer to the great tear. I had no way of stopping it, no method of resistance. There was nothing I could do.

I wondered what the tear was. It was no doubt related to Shuyin and the _things_ he had unwittingly allied himself with, but I had no idea what the tear was. They were pulling down the walls, ripping the barriers apart... could this mean the tear was a way through these barriers?

What happens to that which crosses it? Does all matter crossing that plane get annihilated, or does it pass through unharmed? Am I even matter? If not, then can I pass through?

Well, I suppose I'll find out, won't I.

I tried calling for the fayth. From what I had seen before, they are largely unaffected by the various forces and flows of this existence, and so they may be able to explain just what was happening. However, it appeared they could not hear me, or were rather too busy sorting out the tear – or, perhaps, other tears – as there was no response.

One thing that I truly abhor is feeling helpless. Not having any control over either the actions I am taking or the actions that will affect me. The latter is the situation I now found myself in and it was quickly making me angry. And a little panicky. Then again, it's not the first portal that I've had no choice about travelling through. Auron never did understand this particular personality trait of mine. Either that, or he didn't care. Probably that.

The wound loomed ever closer. I could see vast areas, previously filled with vibrant shifting colours, now faded to black. I thought, for a moment, that I glimpsed a cloud of pyreflies, only for them to disappear a moment later.

A huge surge of power washed over me, much like the one the explosion all those days, months ago. Then another, and another. As I looked to the epicentre, I saw more cracks appearing in that direction. None the size of the tear I was being drawn to, but ominous nonetheless. If the _things_ causing these surges could continue unabated, then they could collapse the entire boundary that contains them. With no boundary, they could continue to press forward and take down the one separating this world from the living and then-

It was almost too terrible to contemplate, but I had no choice. If I were to return, then I would be the only one, other than the fayth, who had any idea what they are capable of. Except maybe Maechen. But you know what he's like.

I would have to warn them. Help mobilise them. Get their arses in gear. And you know what the church is like; it would take a lot more than a few words to get them to take up arms to defend anything but themselves.

Maybe that's the key, then. Make them realise just how much danger they are all in. Not just their livelihoods, but their wives, their children, their grandchildren.

No-one would be safe.

Not even the Ronso, hidden away on mighty Mount Gagazet would be safe. Not Besaid, so far from the mainland. Not even the fiends of Omega, the lost temple of Baaj.

Not even the Al Bhed, with their oft-lost Home on Bikanel. No ocean, no mountain, no army could defend against the power that I had felt.

So what was the _point_ in mobilising everyone then? Why fight it, if we have no chance?

I told myself that it was the principal of it. To maintain hope, to never give in to the pressure. It's what we did so well, the seven of us, even after all had been lost. Yuna, so strong and valiant, despite the very teachings she had abided by her entire life crumbling apart around her. Wakka, simple yet true, who fought against all he had ever been told for the girl he saw as a little sister. Joined forces with those he held responsible for the death of his brother in the name of family and friendship.

Auron, who had gone against his years of training as a monk to rebel against the only known way to defeat Sin. Who had guarded his friend to his death, as it was their choice to make, before trying to destroy the final aeon forever.

And Rikku and I, who had battled tooth and nail to find a way to keep Yuna alive. To guard her to her life. To succeed where Auron had failed. To stop the cycle.

But I knew it wasn't just that. I wanted to fix what I had done, and to do that the world could not end. Not on my watch. To allow that would be my final failure.

I allowed my mind to drift to happier times, before everything had gone tits-up. Before I ruined it. If only I had realised what I had before I threw it all away.

I don't know if she'll ever forgive me. But I do know that we both cherish our time spent more than anything else. She told me as much, after all. And she's never lied to me about us, not ever.

* * *

_The Oasis, Sanubia Desert, Bikanel_

_12.39pm_

_The sun beat down on my pounding head, a rhythm throbbing in time with my heartbeat passing through my forehead. It is far too hot here. Any sane man knows this._

_Then again, it's not like I chose to be here. One second, I was freezing cold at the base of Lake Macalania, feeling a little battered and bruised by the fall. I was chatting to Rikku and Auron about the situation we found ourselves in and our options – and working with Kimahri to reassure Rikku that we like her just the way she is - when Sin appeared._

_If I ever doubted Auron on whether he was right about Sin and Jecht, those doubt were well and truly gone now. Sin is Jecht. And, if we kill Sin, I can never go back home. Somehow, it doesn't bother me so much anymore._

_When I had awoken following Sin's... attack, I had been face-down in an Oasis with the back of my neck starting to burn. I roused myself and began looking for the others, before running into a great big bird. I probably would have been overgrown chicken feed were in not for the timely interventions of Lulu and Auron. They, too, had no idea where the others were. We – read Auron – quickly decided to search for the others, rather than staying put._

_It took a few hours of walking before we chanced upon both Kimahri and Wakka. Neither was in a good mood, and neither had any idea where the others, Yuna especially, were. We were all beginning to get very worried about her. We all knew Rikku could fend for herself for the most part, what with her various grenades and ingenuity with her alchemy, but Yuna wouldn't stand much of a chance should she allow fiends to get too close to her. Especially if her Aeons aren't quite enough by themselves._

_We continued walking, peering into every single one of these strange outposts that we could kind while battling off both fiends and machina alike. Though many of the fiends bore resemblance to those we had previously battled, they all different in key ways. Usually for the worse, too. The machina were rather basic but, in numbers, could cause us some problems._

_As the sun finally began to make its way back toward the horizon – causing us a great deal of trouble with visibility – we crested over a dune to find yet another outpost. This one, unlike almost all those before, was occupied._

_I breathed a huge sigh of relief at seeing Rikku waving her arms in greeting as we all hastened toward her. She met us halfway, bouncing on the balls of her feet with a huge grin on her face. _

"_Oh! Hey guys!" As she looked between us, the grin faltered, before disappearing altogether. "Where's Yunie?"_

"_Gone," I replied on behalf of all of us._

"_Gone... Some guardian I am," Lulu spoke the feelings inside all of us. Without us there, there was no telling what might become of Yuna._

_Rikku was clearly troubled by the news, but, at the same time, seemed slightly triumphant. She bit her lip and averted her eyes from all of us. I would have asked her about it, but she began speaking. "Umm," she began. "There's something I wanna tell you, but promise not to say anything." And whatever it was she wanted to tell us had her just as troubled as the situation with Yuna. The look on Wakka's face clearly displayed his feelings with regards to the request she had just made, and she saw it, now looking him dead in the eyes. "No glaring either!_

_"I know where we are. We're on Bikanel Island. There's a place us Al Bhed call Home near here." Some place to build a home, but I suppose if you have to hide from Yevon you wouldn't have much of a choice. Puts our dilemma in perspective. After all, we didn't just go against the teachings. We outright killed a Maester of Yevon. "Yunie's there, I'm sure of it! Other Al Bhed must've come and rescued her!" _

"_Rescued? You mean kidnapped!" Will Wakka ever get it through his thick skull?_

_"What does it matter as long as she's safe?" Someone had to stand up for her. That'll be me, then. The only other who might try to get in Wakka's face about this is Lulu. If only Yuna were here, she might be able to get him to calm down rather than quietly boil once he had been shut up._

_Rikku looked rather pleased with my stance, and shot me a grin. "That's right!" She now turned to the others. "Anyway, I will take you there if you promise that you won't tell anyone about it. Especially not Yevonites, okay? You know they don't like us Al Bhed. Who knows what they'll do if they knew?"_

_Wakka clearly wasn't going to let this lie "Gimme a break. What are you accusing Yevon of this time?" No-one accuses his beloved Yevon of any wrongdoing and gets away with it. Despite his being complicit in the righteous assassination of Seymour Guado. The hypocrite._

_"Yevon did something really bad to us before." That's hardly surprising, from what little I had gathered from the Al Bhed through my time here on Spira._

_"Well, you Al Bhed must've deserved it." For fucks sake! We have more important things to worry about right now. Like a certain Summoner, for example. I let out a groan of frustration._

_"Can't you guys... talk about this later?" Perhaps they would both get tired and stop sniping at each other. Though, to be fair to her, it wasn't like Rikku was trying to annoy Wakka. Mostly it was the other way around._

_Rikku, instead, pleaded with him. "Just promise you won't tell anyone about this island. Promise?" she asked with a quite spectacular pout and puppy-eyed expression._

_He seemed to crack slightly, giving in a little to her. I tried my best to help convince him."Wakka, come on!"_

_"All right, I promise! Lead the way," he finally caved in_

_Rikku sprouted an ear to ear grin. "You got it!" _

_As most of us turned to continue on, Auron addressed Rikku. "Rikku, stop," we all stopped with her. "I have heard word from men who have been to this desert before. They have told me that during the day only a small portion of the fiends come out. Although many of the day-dwellers disappear during the night, I am told many more come out only at night. Considering we will have almost no visibility out here during the night, would it not be best to rest until first light?"_

_Rikku scratched her chin as she considered this. It was almost dusk, with the sun most of the way down to the horizon by now. It would be gone within the hour, most likely. Rikku, too had seen this and seemed to agree with Auron's assessment. She told him as much, and we settled down around the outpost._

_We ate a few tins of food which we scrounged from the outpost. Dinner was eaten in silence as we all worried after Yuna. If she had been taken by the Al Bhed then it would be great. However, this was clearly a huge desert and we had yet to run into any Al Bhed scouts, so I was not holding out hope that she had been found by them on that front. Rikku clearly was, and quietly suggested to Auron that we walk to Home. She claimed that, as we would be travelling only by day, it would take one and a half days to travel without stoppages. Auron was appeased by this, though it was obvious that it would take us longer. The six hours or so we had spent getting to this point had been extremely hard and we had had to stop regularly to fend off both fiends and machina. _

_As the sun passed below the horizon and night fell, it came time to turn in for the night. It would not do to leave a fire blazing and attract every fiend this side of Bikanel to us. I settled on the inside of the outpost, with my back to the wall. I assumed the others had found somewhere else to spend the night. A few minutes after shutting my eyes and trying to fall asleep, my legs were suddenly covered in a spray of sand as someone inelegantly dropped themselves next to me._

"_Oof," I heard Rikku say, brushing herself off. "I forgot just how dark it gets here."_

"_No excuse for clumsiness. You should be the very picture of elegance, milady," I teased her, giving her a poke in the ribs for good measure. We heard a muffled 'shhh!' from Lulu, however, so began whispering instead._

"_If it wasn't for your fat bum being in the way, I would have been fine."_

"_Klutz."_

"_Vydcu." {Fatso}_

_After sharing a quiet chuckle, we both settled back against the sheet metal wall. Rikku shortly tucked her head against my should, no doubt finding it both warmer and more comfortable than the wall, among other things. I rested my head atop of hers._

_After a short while, I began to drift off. The position we were in, combined with the generally warm temperature, was very soothing. Every so often, Rik would twitch against me, though her breathing remained fairly consistent. I fell asleep._

_An indeterminate amount of time later I was awoken by Rikku having a nightmare. She was shivering, as the ambient temperature had now dropped considerably, and she was moving he head side to side, mumbling "no, no, no," over and over. I shifted toward her, removing my head from hers and wrapping one arm around her, making gentle shushing noises._

_Instead of calming down, she jumped out of her skin. She leapt out of my arms and onto her rump, the jolt of it awaking her. Her eyes darted in all directions before finally settling on me, still sat there with one arm askew from where it had moved in recoil. As she came to her senses, I saw tears enter her eyes before continuing down her cheeks. As suddenly as she had removed herself from me, she reattached herself, wrapping both arms around me and burying her head in my chest. As she quietly sobbed, I held her to me, stroking her back._

_She gathered herself together a few minutes later, but continued to hold onto me. I allowed her some time to sort herself out before I asked what her nightmare was. I wasn't asking out of curiosity – not entirely, at least. Rather, I had always found that talking about it, rationalising it, even only to yourself, always helps following one._

"_I'm sorry, it's just... the last few days all combined together there. I dreamt that Yunie was gone, trapped in a cage with an unsent Seymour. And... and-" she sobbed slightly again before continuing. "And you were dead, Tidus! You were right in front of me, and I couldn't stop it, and then they paraded you in front of me and-"_

_That was all she could say before it became too much and she had to muffle her sobs in my chest again. I let her, feeling mildly disturbed by her nightmare. It presented a terrible mental image, and I tried to block it out. I concentrated on soothing her, stroking her from the small of her back to her head and back again._

"_Shh, I'm still here. I'm still alive," I whispered into her ear. "I'm not going to die yet."_

"_Do you promise?" It was so quiet, so muffled that under any other circumstance I would have likely passed it off as my imagination filling in the blanks. The watery eyes peering up at me spoke a different story, however._

"_Promise what?" I peered down at her. She shifted slightly, our faces now less than inches apart. I didn't notice that the breath had caught in my throat, that my hands had gone clammy, that her hands holding me were no longer grasping, rather just resting on me. That I was ever so slowly leaning closer. I noticed none of these things, as all my attention was on her eyes._

"_That you'll never leave me. That you won't die. Promise?"_

_There was no hesitation in my answer. How could I, when all I could see were those incredible eyes that defied nature in their brilliance?_

"_I promise."_

_She kissed me then. Very light, soft, just enough to whet my appetite, before retreating. As she sat back, and I took in her moonlit visage, I couldn't resist. She had taken her chance, now I would take mine. I hoped neither of us would regret it._

_I kissed her back, pulling her to me as she responded in kind. It was sweet, gentle in the extreme to begin with. As she grew in confidence, we began to get more passionate, deepening the kiss._

_It took some time to get to sleep that night._

_When I awoke the following morning, we were still wrapped up together. She was in my lap, cuddled into me with her legs to one side as I leant against the wall. I had one arm wrapped around her, the other intertwined with hers._

_She remained asleep, making soft shushing noises as she took each breath. As I shifted underneath her, trying to restore circulation to my now-dead legs, she mumbled something incoherently and snuggled deeper into my chest. I smiled slightly, moving the hair out of her face._

_She looked truly peaceful, with her face completely relaxed and one corner of her mouth – the side not drooling on my chest – upturned. There was a very slight breeze through the outpost, and it caused her bangs to sway slightly with the wind. She had, before coming to me last night, let her hair out of its usual ponytail. It just touched her shoulders, having been cut for convenience in work rather than fashion._

_I allowed one of my hands to settle on her hip. With how physical the two of us are in our expressions, it was impossible for me not to have noticed that she really does have nice curves. Though in some ways still bearing the signs of early adolescence, in others she is most definitely a woman. Most importantly, she behaves like an adult. Behind all the fun and teasing she has a realistic view on the world and is more than capable of standing up for herself, both verbally and physically. She had already shown that she commands some level of authority among the Al Bhed when she had successfully defended me on the salvage ship. Although she had to use force to intimidate them, doesn't every leader have to do the same at some point? Show their dominance over the others?_

_Then there is how comfortable we are with each other. I haven't felt this close to someone since Mum passed on. Though Auron had been there, he never truly showed me any affection. He looked out for me without ever giving an inkling that he truly cared, outside of some obligation. A guardian until the last._

_I had obviously hated my own father. Though he has, most likely, had more influence in my life than any other, it has never been through positive reinforcement. No, rather I have improved in spite of him. I proved him wrong whenever I could, and became a better man because of it. I have no doubt that this was an accidental consequence on his part. Heck, there were times when I wondered if _I_ was an accidental consequence. It would certainly explain his animosity._

_Sure, he might have improved once he came to Spira. He might have even missed me. But the damage had been done, and I will hate him for it for as long as I live._

_Ever since I had first sat down and talked with Rikku, she had been kind with me and fun to be around. I had laughed harder with her than I had with anyone I had known back in Zanarkand and, although Wakka is at times entertaining, we never had the connection that I built with Rikku in that short time on the ship. Once I found her washed up on the banks of the Moonflow we continued from where we had left off effortlessly and now I could safely say that she knows me best of all the people I've met in Spira._

_The heavy petting we got up to last night, too, had felt entirely natural. It was as if we were merely extending our already close friendship an extra step, making the next move forward. There was no pressure, no expectations. We just enjoyed ourselves. In some ways, it bore a worrying resemblance to some of the no-strings sex I had had with the occasional fan-girl back in Zanarkand – which I am not proud of despite enjoying it greatly – yet, at the same time, it felt far more natural and deeper than anything I'd every before experienced. It was intoxicating, and I couldn't wait for the two of us to get some more time alone. Speaking of which..._

_I nudged her awake. I grinned as she blearily opened her eyes before shutting them quickly at the abrupt change in light. After rubbing them with her free hand for a few seconds, she once again opened them and looked up until mine. She seemed to be surprised at her position before the memories of the previous evening returned to her and a shy smile broke out onto her face._

"_Morning," she said quietly, voice still a little raspy so soon after sleeping._

"_Hi yourself," I responded before dipping in for a kiss, rather more forceful and passionate than we had begun the previous night with but no less than could be expected of me in this position. After all, I am a teenage guy with a pretty and very willing girl in his lap, aren't I?_

_She made delighted noises under my ministrations for the next several minutes, responding in kind and giving as good as she got. I had been impressed at how fast her technique had developed, as she had been woefully inexperienced, despite making the first move. Now she is quite capable of making my toes curl._

"_Mmhmm," she sighed as I broke the kiss, regaining my breathing. We rested our foreheads together, and she gave me one more quick peck before standing up and peeking outside._

"_I can't see the others," she whispered to me as I walked behind her, placing one hand on her hip and leaning round her other side. She playfully swished her hips against me as I drew up behind her and I gave her a quick squeeze of the bum in response. It made her squeak slightly and clumsily move out of the outpost entrance as I followed her, chuckling. We found the others around the back of the outpost, tucked underneath a large awning that provided shelter on all sides. Apart from Wakka, they were all awake and eating breakfast from the stash of tinned food we had found the day before. As myself and Rikku tucked in, they gave no inclination that they had noticed our... activities, both the night before and this morning. They merely nodded to us and continued on eating._

_Wakka was awoken by his nose soon enough and he, too, ate his fill (which was considerably more than the rest of us). Once we were ready, we began the long hike toward Home._

_It was the hardest day of travel I had ever had. Auron set a blistering pace, despite the face he had no idea where we were going. I had no idea how he managed it, wrapped up in his huge trench-coat and carrying his enormous broadsword, but he did. The rest of us, bar Kimahri, struggled desperately to keep up. The upshot of this was that we made quick work across the ground. However, as soon as we had to fight away some fiends or machina we were feeling quite tired and sluggish, making long-drawn out battles out of enemies we would usually storm through. Luckily, Rikku proved to be exceptional at taking down the machina, able to safely dismantle them in seconds._

_The fast pace also had the added effect of reducing the number of fiends that would sneak up on us. Usually, if we were travelling at a more sedate pace, we would appear to be prime prey for fiends. Therefore, they would often spot us and follow for a while before making their strike. The only fiends who succeeded in pulling that on us here were the Sandragora and Sand Worms, as they could both spring on us from under the sand._

_We had fortunately had the forethought to stock up on our supplies – lost altogether during transport via Sin – while at each of the outposts that we passed. We could only carry so much in the blazing head and climbing over steep dunes, so it was fortunate for us that there were regular stops. Rikku also found some Al Bhed medical supplies which frequently came in handy when we were too sluggish and got ourselves hurt. Auron was beside himself at our lack of fitness, and had clearly resolved to train us up to scratch once we were out of this place._

_With each step the journey became harder, and, despite resting whenever we could, we were on our last legs by late afternoon. Even Auron seemed to be feeling the strain a little as his walking had become less sure and his complaints about our physical states reduced in number. Although Kimahri would usually be quite capable of walking for a week without much of a rest, he, too, struggled with the heat due to his great fur coat and, I was told, the Ronso's preference for colder climes. He looked as relieved as the rest of us when we reached another outpost and Auron announced that we would rest here for the night._

_The day without any news about Yuna had clearly taken its toll on all of our nerves, however. Wakka and Lulu were sniping at each other at every opportunity and Auron was pacing the edge of the camp nervously. Rikku and I sat together in silence, devoid of our usual banter. I could tell she was itching to cuddle up to me, but was reluctant to do so in front of the others. Instead, she had settled for twining her fingers around the crook of my elbow._

"_It's going to be worse tomorrow," she said quietly. Wakka and Lulu didn't hear her, continuing on their argument unaffected. Kimahri, leaning on the wall of the outpost, looked down at us, ear cocked. "The further north we get, the more and more dangerous the fiends get, both in number and in size." She shivered, wincing at a previous memory. I assumed she had learnt this from experience. "They will likely slow down our progress to a crawl. It's not like we blew them away today, y'know?" She trailed off, looking down at her lap._

_I could understand her melancholy. Every moment we were battling our way through this desert was another moment that Yuna was without her guardians. Another moment she could be getting killed. It was yet another sobering thought for all of us._

_That night, we all assumed the same sleeping arrangements as the night before. Though Rikku began outside, she once again moved inside once the others had drifted off. She clearly had one thing in mind tonight, immediately setting herself down on my lap, one leg either side. She cupped my face, bringing me in for a searing kiss._

_I threaded the fingers of one hand through her hair, kneading it gently as we kissed. The other hand I placed on the curve of her hip, stroking it lightly and playing my fingers lightly in the direction of her arse. She sounded her approval of my fondling, and pushed herself closer against me. I lightly ran my fingers up from her hips, along her sides to level with her breasts and back again,making her squirm in my arms. In response, she grabbed at my hair a bit harder and squeezed my backside._

_I shifted myself down to her neck, trailing kisses the whole way down. She did the same, biting me just enough to leave a mark at the base of my neck. Luckily, she had pushed my hoodie aside with her chin before doing so. That'll remain covered, then._

_I don't know why we hadn't been open about our relationship. I was not ashamed, not in the slightest. I would quite happily have paraded her around, and felt right proud of myself with her in front of the others. Perhaps it was the thrill of the secrecy; it was like we were doing something wrong, something forbidden, something _dangerous_. We were breaking an unspoken taboo, and it was incredible._

_By now she had worked my top loose, peeling away my hoodie and pushing my dungarees down to my hips. She kissed her way down my chest, stroking it as she went. I kept one hand on the back of her head, encouraging her, as I brought my other hand up to her chest in return. After all, in moving to bow her head down, she had now moved her arse to being almost out of reach. It was therefore only practical that I went to her chest, right?_

_Keep deluding yourself that you're a gentleman, Tidus. Keep trying._

_She heartily approved of my decision, pushing her chest against my hand. I quickly worked my hand, which was previously in her hair, to the buckles on one side of her as one of her hands moved to the other side. In short time her top had been removed and my hand moved to the buckle on her sports bra. She had returned herself to my neck and was now fully pressed against me. I removed the buckle, allowing her ample breasts to spring free._

_I kissed, sucked and licked my way down to them, taking one in my hand and the other in my mouth, as I cupped the small of the back with my free hand. She gave me plenty of assurance that she was enjoying this, moaning and holding my head to her._

_Neither of us would get to sleep until much later._

_Half an hour later we were a little worn out, cuddled up to each other once more and stealing the occasional kiss. It was comfortable and friendly, neither of us talking about the potential repercussions of this but neither objecting to it or wanting it to end._

_Yeah, there was definitely no-one in the world that I felt closer to than her._

_I ran my hand up and down the thigh she had thrown over me. She moved it closer to me, leaning into my touch. She shifted her face to look up at me._

"_Tidus," she whispered. Her voice had changed. Gone – mostly – was the huskiness. In its place was uncertainty and fear._

"_Yeah," I replied, stopping the motion of my hand. I began to worry that I had taken her too far, too quickly. It was so easy to forget that she is years younger than me. If I lost her friendship, her affection, then-_

"_Don't stop!" she whined, grabbing my hand and roughly encouraging it to continue its previous actions. I heaved a sigh of relief, and smiled at her as I continued. Her worry had now made its way to her face, however._

"_I'm scared. About Yunie," she said miserably. Ah, well isn't that a mood-killer. Sure, I was worried too. But it wasn't quite at the forefront of my mind for the past hour or so._

"_Me too," I admitted, stroking her hair soothingly. The poor girl had every right to worry about her cousin, but, for now, there was nothing we could do but hope. "But until we find her, there's not much else we can do but search."_

"_Yeah," she sighed, closing her eyes. "I just... I want her to be happy, y'know? She's not had an easy life, and now that she's.. now that she's..." she trailed off, a tear leaking from one eye. "I just hope that she's at Home. Then she can be safe."_

"_Mhmm," I grunted my agreement._

_The cold soon became too much, and we reluctantly put our clothes back on. After curling up together once more, we soon fell asleep._

_The next day dawned much like the last. After Rikku returned the pleasurable wakeup favour, we both continued outside. Rikku made a beeline for the food, as I moved at a more sedate pace. I was startled by a deep voice from a nook in the wall of the outpost._

"_Tidus be careful. More hearts care than he thinks," Kimahri stood from where he had spent the night, giving me along look before going to grab some food._

_So Kimahri had heard. It wasn't altogether surprising, as I'm sure our various expressions of pleasure had reached his sensitive ears. What was more worrying was what he had said; it supported one of the fears I had had about moving forward with Rikku. I may be sure that Yuna is not right for me, but does Yuna know I'm not right for her? That I can only cause her heartache should she allow herself to-_

"_Come on, slow poke! We can't sit and wait all day for you to eat!" Rikku called to me around a mouthful of food. The worries quickly left my mind as I saw her grinning at me, winking saucily._

_Rikku's prediction proved correct. The journey slowed to a crawl as we sliced and diced our way through seemingly endless streams of fiends. Eventually, though, we did get a few breaks and were able to make some good ground. By the time we settled in for the night once more, we were just a couple of valleys away from our destination. According to our guide, however, it was about to get even worse._

"_The worst collection of fiends in the entire desert live between us and home. It may not seem like far, but it'll take us all day to get there." Well, that's brilliant, isn't it?_

_We slept much the same way as we had the previous night, though with a little less fun as we were both so tired after the huge journey._

_We woke up. We fought. And fought. And fought. We climbed down, we climbed back out. And, when we finally crested the last dune, we saw Home. The Home of the Al Bhed was ablaze. And this time, Sin was not to blame._

* * *

_A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading that. I haven't knocked out that many words in one go since I wrote chapter two. It was also my first go at out-and-out romance, and I'd like to know how you felt about it. Was it at the same standard as the usual drama/ adventure? Was it better, or perhaps worse? Too sappy? Too raunchy?_

_Bear in mind, of course, that Tidus is a seventeen year old male. His brain will often not engage._

_We're not too far from the conclusion to the first arc now. Pretty soon you'll be finding out just what Spira and the fayth are up against._

_Cheers._


	8. Chapter 7: Settlement

_A/N: There's this bug, and I can't quite get rid of it. I went to see my GP, and he told me I had a highly dangerous problem: the No-Writer's Block Syndrome. To relieve the symptoms, he said, was to appease it by writing. So, here I am._

_Disclaimer: I do not own FFX or X-2._

* * *

_Mistake_

_Chapter 7: Settlement_

_The Fahrenheit_

_7.58pm_

_I had been searching the airship for some time now, trying to find what was no doubt a very depressed and angry Al Bhed._

"_We're … we're going to blow up our Home."_

_The only Home she had ever truly known, truly loved, had now been reduced to rubble. By the hand of her own father. Oh, I'm sure she saw the necessity of it, and knows that it can be rebuilt. But it will never be the same Home she had known, and, however irrationally, she will be extremely angry at the whole situation and looking for someone to take it out on. Considering we hadn't yet found any word on where Yuna had gone, and her father didn't look like he was one for sympathy, I resigned myself to being that target._

_Yuna. If she calls the Final Aeon, it will take her life. If she defeats Sin, she dies._

_All those empty promises made to a girl, nay, a woman on her her way to her death. I hated myself for it. And, matter what Cid had to say about it, I was going to apologise. It wouldn't fix anything, but I would do it. She deserves that much._

_And Rikku... shit. I had been so _angry_, angry at their deception. Sure, they had never deliberately mislead me, but that didn't make it any better. They didn't do it maliciously, quite the opposite in fact, but I felt no less pissed off at them. And Rikku, being the one to reveal it to me in a hail of tears and her own anger and frustration at the whole _fucking_ situation, had faced the majority of my ire. That poor, sweet girl, who had become a guardian to try to find a way to get her out of this pilgrimage, to save her cousin's life. Who had no idea that I didn't know the fate Yuna was boldly walking to, and we were all shepherding her to, and could never ask me as it was too hard to say._

_I had lashed out, and now she probably wants to hit me. Ergo, I make the best target for her to unleash her anger at losing her Home on; get it out in one go, y'know?_

_I searched every corridor I came across, encountering Rin and the Al Bhed Psyches on my way. After impressing Rin with my understanding of his peoples' language, I finally continued up onto the one place I hadn't searched: the deck._

_Sure enough, there she was; stood as far forward on the ship as she safely could, and maybe a step further, she had her arms spread wide, facing the full force of the rushing wind head-on. If we were travelling at full throttle, I had no doubt she would have ended up going overboard in that pose. As it was, we had no destination and as such were merely coasting in the general direction of Spira's mainland._

_I slowly walked up to her, quietly enough not to disturb her but loud enough for her to be aware of my presence. I didn't want her jumping in surprised, not that close to the edge. As I neared, she spoke._

"_I knew you'd come," I'd never heard her like this before; her voice gave nothing away, being entirely mono-tonal. It unsettled me. "You always do. After all, you did promise."_

"_How did you know it was me?" I asked her, pushing as much faux-cheer into my voice as I could. No reason to push this into being a downhearted conversation now, was there? Maybe, after all that, she didn't want my severed testicles on a silver platter._

"_Puh-lease, like any of the others would come out here when I was in a blatant bad mood. Then again, I don't think Brother or Pops have any idea how I think, so perhaps they would. The point is, I doubt anyone in there gives two shits if I'm down. Pops has been on my case every moment of my life... at least since Mum died." Looks like I'm not the only one with Dad-problems._

"_He loves you, though." She looked at me sharply, a frown creasing her forehead. "Seriously. You could tell, back at Home. He treats you like he would one of his trusted lieutenants, going so far as to entrust you with retrieving the summoners inside Home. But it also means he expects that much more of you, so he can come across as being a bit too hard on you."_

_She looked at me closely, contemplatively, for a moment before she spoke. "Since when did you get so smart?" there was a note of wonder in her voice. I couldn't quite tell whether or not she was faking it, so decided to give her an honest answer._

"_It was nearly the same for me, yet so different. My old man never treated me like his kid, never tried to look out for me or protect me. He never trusted me, he never tried to understand. He just put me down, every time I made a mistake, put one toe out of line, there he was, laughing his head off at me," I addressed her directly now. "Compared to him, your Dad's a fucking saint."_

_She turned to face the wind once more, a slight upward twitch of the lips showing she had taken my words to heart._

_It was now or never._

"_Look, Rik... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken it out on you. I should have thanked you, you were the only one who hadn't actively deceived me and you were the one to tell me. So, for that, I'm sorry." I had spoken quietly, but she had obviously heard. She turned to me and took my face in her hands. She lightly kissed my mouth, just a soft peck but one that spoke more than mere words could. She had forgiven me._

_I stepped behind her, wrapping my arms around her front and resting my chin on her head. It's at times like this I realise just how tiny she is. It's so easy to forget, with her big personality and loud nature, that I am often surprised when I do take her in my arms. However, her small frame is the perfect fit for cuddling, her head being immediately in line with the crook of my neck. I gently kissed her hair, squeezing lightly with my arms. She let out a contented sigh in response._

_We stood in comfortable silence for some time before she broke it, thoughts and feelings obviously desperate to be unloaded finally breaking free._

"_The last time Home was destroyed, I was four years old. Mum had just been killed, a few weeks before, by a machina gone rogue. My aunt, Yunie's mother, was on her way to visit – give Pops and Brother and me some company, y'know? Sin, it... it attacked her boat, while it was on its way to an island that used to be just south of Bikanel. That's where our old Home was. There were no survivors," she sniffed. "Then Sin came to Home, launched itself out of the water somehow. It rained Sinspawn down on us, as we tried to flee. I remember Pops yelling at Brother, telling him to run, to take me with him. I was stock still, scared out of my mind. Brother wasn't doing much better, so Pops picked us both up in his arms and ran with us to the desert speeders – the only way we could escape._

"_To reach the speeders, we had to battle through so many Sinspawn. They were everywhere, but Pops, along with a few of his elite, just carved a path right on through. We reached a speeder, and piled as many as we could on before leaving. At the last second, Pops jumped off. He said- he said 'I'm not leaving my people', and ran back through the Sinspawn to help the others. After reaching the other side of the island, and onto some boats to Bikanel, away from the monsters, Brother and I had to wait two days for news of him. We both cried so hard during that time, thinking that we were orphans. But Pops, he... he had managed to set a bomb, inside of Home, then flee, taking all of the Sinspawn out. We lost about half of the Al Bhed that day, and the remaining scattered around Spira._

"_But Pops, he never gave up. He brought us all back together again. I think, that day, we had finally lost the last bit of the deeply caring, kind Cid. He became the leader of the Al Bhed, and he brought us together again, we got our Home back. It's why I got so angry at Wakka, calling it some festival fireworks... Home means so much to us Al Bhed. It's our identity, our one haven._

"_Now the Guado and Yevon have taken it from us. Some way or another, they will pay. There will be judgement."_

_There were tears streaming down her cheeks, her lower lip was trembling, and the areas around her eyes had gone red raw, but to me she had never looked more beautiful. She was stripped naked, completely open in front of me as the wind battered her with all the force of a sledgehammer, yet she didn't break down. She cried, but she stood firm. I felt inadequate._

_I drew her into my arms once more, feeling the need to help her through the powerful emotions that were rolling off her. She had stopped crying, but that didn't mean she was better. I stroked her hair and she leaned into my touch, but that didn't tell me she had got it all of her chest. I waited for her to give me some confirmation, some ironclad sign that my closest friend in the whole world wasn't going to bail on me._

"_Thanks for letting me take my mental knickers off," she whispered, putting her arms around me and giving me a tight squeeze. "It takes quite a bit more effort than taking my actual knickers off, don't you think?" she asked playfully._

_Yeah, there's my Rikku._

"_I wouldn't know, I haven't seen you without them yet, have I?" Two could play at that game. I gave a teasing kiss for emphasis._

"_You wanna find out?" though her question was teasing, the unsure note in her voice told me she was serious. Well, fuck me sideways with a Katana!_

_Not literally, of course._

_My positive response no doubt being displayed all over my face, most likely with a healthy does of drooling, Rikku giggled happily before giving me a forceful, brief kiss and a pinch on the arse. Then she walked away, swaying her hips those first few steps before looking over her shoulder at me, winking, and making a 'come hither' gesture. I didn't stand a chance._

_The next morning, the two of us were lying on what she had described as 'her' bed, in its own cabin in an isolated part of the airship. Her father had no doubt planned to fly his daughter around in it long in advance of today. She lay atop me, panting as if she had run a marathon, one leg thrown over and her head nestled in the crook of my neck – it always seemed to find its way there – while I ran my hand from her knee, up her naked thighs, and along her sides to her rib cage, then back again. She seemed to enjoy it, so I felt no need to stop._

_We still hadn't talked about our 'relationship', given it a definition, or even begun to hint at the matter. To my mind, we were just two teenagers, enjoying the closest friendship we'd ever experienced, who also just so happened to have had amazing, mind-blowing sex with each other. Multiple times. I certainly had no objections to the arrangement, and, from the noises and encouragement she was giving me earlier, I don't think Rik did either._

"_You're incredible, you know that?" I told her, lightly caressing my lips over her forehead. "I've never felt anything like what you did to me."_

_She grinned, giggling quietly and snuggling into me some more. She began to ran her loose hand over my chest, occasionally scratching lightly with her nails. It was intoxicating, and if I wasn't completely spent it would no doubt have lead to round I-lost-count-a-while-back. As it was, it caused me to shiver with desire and give her thigh a squeeze, bringing it further up my torso._

_I had never felt this dominated in my desire. She had total control over me, able to bring me to do whatever she pleased with a touch here, a kiss there, a rake or two. It helps, of course, that she's gorgeous._

_I doubt I'll ever find heavily made-up bimbos with an aversion to anything involving manual labour attractive again. She's the polar opposite._

_She leaned up and brought me in for a fiery, passionate kiss. After making out for another couple of minutes, and becoming yet more hot and worked up, my attempts to begin bringing her to the same heights as I had so many times over the previous night and this morning were interrupted by a metaphorical cold shower._

"_Rikku! Du dra pnetka essateydamo!" came Cid's voice over the tannoy. {To the bridge immediately!}_

_Rikku groaned in frustration, losing her buzz immediately. Your father's voice resounding through your head can do that. We both scrambled for our clothes, which, we were amused to see, had been ripped off in our haste. Literally, in the case of an unfortunate bra and one of my buckles. As I sought to repair my clothes, she grabbed a spare bra from the chest of drawers. Once presentable, the two of us made our way to the bridge, staggering our arrival slightly so Rikku arrived a few minutes before myself._

_As I walked in, Kimahri stared at me, no doubt having already smelt me on Rikku and finding the reverse on myself. His earlier warning resounded through my head, before it was summarily thrust aside by what I saw in the centre console of the bridge._

_We had found Yuna. And she was wearing a wedding dress, standing near a very alive-looking Seymour. My stomach dropped to my feet as my heart-rate rose exponentially._

_We had a wedding to crash._

* * *

I had never again reached that level of contentment or achieved that feeling of belonging. We had something special, albeit short, and I wish that I could have lived in that moment forever. I had relived it so many times in my head that I knew every word spoken, every action, every reaction, every thought that had passed through my brain.

I would have given anything to regain those times, to go back to how it was. But I can't, not anymore. No, too much damage had been done for that to ever happen. But I couldn't shake the hope that I may find something just as amazing, as mind-bogglingly perfect. If I ever had that chance again, I would grasp it with all my strength and hold on forever. The pain of losing it is simply too great to go through a second time.

She was like a drug, one I had become addicted to in a short space of time before going cold turkey so soon after. She gave me the best highs, with no lows, but the deprivation was agony.

Seeing her as she is now made it so much worse. She had grown into herself so well, become yet more confident and fun-loving whilst not losing any of her inner steel. She is still the same girl, only with her positive traits dominant over her quirks.

Seeing her again would be sweet torture, and I don't know if I could take the pressure.

But Yuna would complicate things. She had no idea, no _fucking_ idea about what I had done to her. To them both. She would rage, and she would hate me, but it had to be done for all our sakes. Don't get me wrong, I love the girl and will defend her to the ends of the earth, just not like _that_. Not like _she thinks_.

Yuna reads far too deeply into these things. I know that now.

I was by now nearing the tear. My perception of the 'space' around me was distorted as the very reality itself was being warped by the gaping wound that was drawing all toward it. If I looked at the tear, visions would flash across the surface of my thoughts. If I started into it, I could see them clearly.

I saw cities burning under the onslaught of an unseen enemy. I saw mighty beings swarmed upon by a hundred thousand shades. Mothers and children swallowed by shadow. Armies felled by a tidal wave of death. Worlds crumbling to dust, all life sucked dry. Light consumed by darkness.

These visions would assault me for only moments – or what I perceived to be moments – but they tore an imprint across my memory. These were old, _old_ magics. Magics of which I had no understanding, no comprehension of. Compared to what I had seen on Spira, it felt unnatural, inhuman. As I was taken through these visions, reliving them from the perspective of these shades, I absorbed details with every sense. The sound of screams, the taste of blood, the smell of fear and the texture of muscle and sinew.

If I could, I would have vomited. As it was, I threw up every mental barrier I had in an attempt to block of these visions. It worked, in part. By now the magic casting these visions to me had gained enough of a foothold within my mind to operate overpower my defences, albeit partially. Perhaps it was my proximity to the tear, looming ever nearer, which caused my susceptibility to it to increase.

Arcs of light flashed past me, curving away from their origin in the tear. Some would appear to be lacking in momentum and would be sucked right back through the hole, whereas others would travel so fast that they would disappear from my sight before I could truly register them. It was during a particularly vicious flurry of these high energy bolts that I noticed a rapidly approaching cloud of pyreflies. They appeared to be highly agitated, swerving this way and that as they approached at a speed I did not know they could achieve. Within short order, I had Bahamut flying alongside me as we both approached the tear. He wasted no time in turning and addressing me.

"We have little time. I have travelled here from deep in the heart of the farplane, where I was overseeing the end of the threat of Shuyin," he began, almost – but not quite – stumbling over his words in his haste to speak. He appeared to take a breath and recentre himself, and his following words were delivered in a more controlled manner. "Your friends Yuna and Rikku, along with a companion of theirs, have allied themselves with a number of warriors from Spira. Though they all have their differences, they united against the common threat to Spira's safety. Or, at least, the only threat that they were aware of.

"Shuyin attempted to use Vegnagun; a machina built more than a thousand years ago by Bevelle in its attempts to win the war with Zanarkand. So powerful was this machina that it was never used; its creators sealed it below Bevelle, kept in restraints with no key. The chamber which contained it was sealed and never spoken of. However, a draftee in the Zanarkand army had heard talk in his time with the army – things this big never stay as secret as one would hope – and attempted to infiltrate the Bevelle Underground to steal Vegnagun. He hoped to use it to free his lover - Lenne, who had been captured and held prisoner by Bevelle - and to finally end Bevelle's war effort. His attempt was foiled, leading to him being imprisoned in the Gaol. In time, he escaped and once again reached the chamber containing Vegnagun. As he began to control it, Lenne appeared and stopped him. As the pair were reunited, the guard arrived. They were shot and killed in front of Vegnagun.

"Wrought with anger and loss at the death of his lover, Shuyin was unable to move on. He became an Unsent, and took up residence in the Den of Woe. There he remained, until a few years ago when a squad of elite warriors entered the Den and they discovered him. Only four managed to escape with their lives, though one of them had unknowingly been possessed. Upon seeing inside the mind of this man, who had connections within Bevelle, Shuyin began to plan. He would break into the Bevelle Underground – which, as an unsent, would be far easier than if he were alive. He would break Vegnagun from its prison and take it to the Farplane, where he would allow it to absorb the life energy flowing in such great density, before unleashing its most dangerous weapon.

"This weapon held the power to destroy Spira. If Shuyin had been able to unleash it, there would be nothing left of this world," Bahamut paused, cracking a slight smile and cocking his head slightly to the side. "Luckily, your friends had caught onto his plans, if only slightly, and endeavoured to interfere. They were just in time, as, if they had waited any longer, Shuyin would have had enough power to fire Vegnagun's weapon. However, neither was aware that there were others who had observed the events."

Bahamut paused once more, steeling himself before continuing. "The shades which are kept imprisoned within the great barriers noticed Shuyin, and learned of his plans. You see, as an Unsent Shuyin had much the same capabilities as we do, able to pass through space unhindered. As such, he was able to see past these barriers. If he had looked hard, he may have even noticed you. However, he must have not stayed long, for his plans revolved only around getting vengeance on Spira and being reunited with his love. However, even his short time there was noticed by the darkness, and they quickly surmised his intentions. They decided to coordinate their final attack, which has most likely been millennia in the planning, with Shuyin's assault. All they needed to begin was a starting gun, which Shuyin provided when he began to activate Vegnagun. The energies which that ignition generated were great enough that they were felt in the world below. I'm sure you felt this, too."

I couldn't be sure, but I offered the event that I thought Bahamut was referring to. "There was something like an earthquake. Everywhere shook, and those colours and lights started shifting," I felt a little stupid being unable to give any real details, but Bahamut nodded regardless.

"Yes, that does sound right. This expulsion of power from Vegnagun told these demons that their attack would commence, as we, the fayth, would be suitably distracted. While myself and my counterparts went to the farplane to oversee Shuyin's end, the shades struck."

He looked down, ashamed. "We should have anticipated this move, but we did not," Bahamut was not one to be fazed for long, and his voice regained its steel as he raised his face to meet mine. His hood fell back slightly, revealing that he was child-like in only looks. He had glowing golden eyes which spoke of millennia of maintaining order in an entire world. "We shall therefore do our utmost to rectify this error of judgement and bring down the swarm."

"Just what are they, these shades?" I asked Bahamut. The fayth had been unclear up until now, speaking mainly of legends. I wanted details. "How do they operate? Will they be able to break through into the world above? What are they capable of? And why the _fuck_ haven't you stopped them?" my disembodied voice, as it sounded to me, had increased in volume as I had questioned Bahamut, expressing both my anger and my frustration at the situation.

"Calm yourself," Bahamut voice was quiet, but it had a quality that instantly quelled my anger. It reminded me of just _who_ I was speaking to. "Truth be told, we fayth cannot know for sure. They do not appear to have a solid form, morphing constantly to whatever shape may suit their needs. They work as a whole, appearing to think little and rather using their instincts. This recent attack is the first instance we have ever known of them operating in a pre-planned manner. Your final few questions can all be answered together; simply, they are too strong and too numbered. We fayth are but a few, and, though we once possessed great power, our Aeons are gone. Our power has diminished, and with it our hold over them. Our predecessors, stronger and far more wizened than I or my fellows, locked these beasts away. Without their powers, it is unlikely we can contain them. They will be a calamity from the earth."

"But you _can_ fight them, right? They _can_ be stopped?" This was sounding worse and worse. I had thought them a threat, but not an insurmountable one. If the fayth were the only ones who had the capability, then Spira would be done for.

"They can be fought by conventional means, too. However, this usually does not work, for they do not hunt alone. They swarm. And yes, we can fight them, but it will be much the same story for us as it will be for any man who stands against them."

"Then what can be done?" I asked desperately.

"We do not know. For now, try all you can. There will be some time before they can break through the final barrier, but it will not be long. Organise and mobilise those in the world above."

"Wait, what? What do you mean?" I asked Bahamut. His commands had come out of the blue, and seemed to suggest that I would be returning. Why the hell didn't he say so earlier?

"Before I came to speak to you, I made one final visit, on behalf of the fayth, to Yuna before she left the Farplane. We owed her a favour for her deeds, as she and her companions had helped Spira greatly. We offered her a choice. She chose to see you again. However, it is not for her to make the final decision. We owed her a favour, yes, but we will not go against your wishes.

"You travel toward to hole in the fabric of this world. We do not know what will come of your passage into this seam; we could stop you, we could keep you here, or we could take you with us. Will we be able to get you back? Maybe yes, maybe no. But it would take many lifetimes, and, by the time a way may be found, all you love and all you wish to return for will most likely have passed on, and that is if Spira itself is able to remain. If we let you through that seam, we do not know what will happen. You might return to the living, right as rain, as you were when you left it only truly real. You may return as an unsent, forced into a faux life. You may not return at all, rather ceasing to exist. It is your choice."

"Some choice. I'll take my chances."

"Your courage is admirable. Very well then. We wish you luck, Tidus. May you return to do away with the demons, both real and inside your own head." With these final words Bahamut departed, tearing off in the opposite direction.

I steeled myself, facing the crack that now towered before me. The space around me felt hot, compressed and turbulent as I drew up to the threshold. The force drawing me in, however, never faltered.

The final few moments seemed to last a lifetime. Perhaps they did. Lances of light seemed to stretch past me in every direction, enveloping me in a multitude of colour. In each streak, I could see events unfolding. Unlike the previous visions I had seen, these seemed to have no structure. I saw men, women and children living, laughing and playing. Families being built, growing old together, passing on. Learning, working, forgetting.

The lives lived by an entire peoples passed before me. I absorbed none of the details, but all of the message. Life is short, and life is precious; some day, every person must pass on. That is why life must be cherished, it must be valued, and you must have no regrets. Regrets mean that you have not lived your life to its fullest extent. Regrets are for eternity.

I reached the threshold of the crack in the fabric of reality. It rippled, bent around my consciousness, my spirit, my very essence, allowing space for me to press into it. In front of me, the previously flat, solid plane from which I had seen countless spurs of light and power fly now split, opening up a void of nothing.

I panicked. If I kept on going, there were no assurances. That realm had become my reality, as much as it had been my prison. The last two years of my non-life had been a constant stream of regret, regret that I had made such a great error of judgement, one which I felt I would never have the opportunity to rectify. After all, I was but a dream, and dreams are not real. The possibility that I may one day return had only occurred to me these past few minutes, hours, days, as the fabric holding the world together had torn away. Now that the moment was upon me... it frightened me. One way or another, this moment would define my existence from now until the end of time.

I passed through the gate. I felt my consciousness contract, expand, twist, and thrash madly. Before I lost the ability to think, one thought, one memory passed before me.

My greatest regret.

My mistake.

* * *

_A/N: Wow, that last passage was depressing to write. A few points:_

_The closing exchanges between Bahamut and Tidus have been written for some time._

_The attack of Sin on Home fits into the timeline. I set it as eleven years before the game, and Sin is killed by Braska ten years before the game. The history of Shuyin is taken from the Final Fantasy Wikia. I am assuming that what is written there is correct, as I never owned the Ultimania and, even if I did, I would not be able to translate it. If it isn't, then no matter. This is, after all, an AU._

_There is just one more chapter to go in the first Arc. After that, there will be a brief interlude before the second arc begins. I now have a large portion of the story planned out, and a true direction for the second and third arcs of the story. And I am extremely glad to be able to type that, as until about a week ago I truly had no fucking idea where I was going to bring some excitement into this. The second and thirds arcs are shaping up to have far more action, as well as a possible political plotline. Man, I never thought I'd write anything political, but there you have it._

_Oh, and if no-one sees the massive reference to a certain other, older FF then I will be very disappointed._

_Cheers._


	9. Chapter 8: One of My Turns

_A/N: I had some trouble kick-starting this chapter. Writing pure Tidus-Rikku seems to flow far better for me than describing the interactions with the other characters, but it's about time I fleshed out some more personalities, particularly some of the ones which will come into prominence in the second and third arcs. I believe, hwoever, that writing this chapter has greatly helped to improve my descriptive writing.  
_

_I made a few revisions to chapter one. Nothing significant, but I believe I have conveyed Tidus' situation better, now._

_Frankly, I'm amazed at how far my writing has come since I first wrote that chappie. It almost brings tears to my eyes. And of course, I have you, the readers, to thank for that. The constructive criticism I have received has brought me to this point, and I am forever grateful._

_I am sorry for the extensive delay in the release of this chapter, but real life took priority._

_On with the conclusion to the first arc. This has been quite a journey, but it's only really getting started.  
_

_Disclaimer: I do not own FFX or X-2._

* * *

_Mistake_

_Chapter 8: One of My Turns_

_Bevelle_

_6.14am_

_We hadn't rested for twenty-four hours. On the run non-stop, desperate to find Yuna. The feelings of contentment and belonging that had built up over the time in Bikanel and on the Fahrenheit had long been lost in the rush to Bevelle, fighting our way through beastly guardians, warrior monks and machina alike. Storming through the Cloister of Trials to catch up to Yuna, shoving aside tradition and proprietary in our desperation to reach her. Then again, it wasn't like those things meant anything anymore, not after what we had all seen. There would be no returning to those concepts, not anymore._

_So here I was, trapped in a cage in the Bevelle underground with Auron, awaiting my fate. I could see Yuna and Rikku together, Wakka and Lulu, with Kimahri on his own. We were too far away to feasibly communicate without gaining the ire of our guards, but close enough to see how we were all dealing with it._

_Auron had kept his cool, analysing the situation and trying to find a weakness in the defences. As he had not yet made any move, I had to assume he had yet to find one. Even a great man like Auron is powerless at times._

_Wakka and Lulu were alternating between bickering and staring at Yuna worriedly. Yuna had clearly had a lot taken out of her by her newest Aeon acquisition and having her entire world turned upside down, and was struggling to stay conscious. Ideally, we would all have been with her to provide comfort and security to her in order to support her through this. As it was, Rikku attempted to comfort her, drawing her head into her lap and running her hands through it. While Yuna was unconscious, Rikku would take the respite to look at me, as if afraid I'd disappear if she let me out of her sight. I tried to reassure her as best I could, smiling and attempting to appear relaxed, but she knew me too well._

_We were all a mess._

_With a grimace, I shifted my weight against the bars. I allowed my mind to rest, my vision going hazy as my focus shifted to an arbitrary point. I let my thoughts wander, thinking back to Bikanel and the Fahrenheit and wondering when, rather than if, myself and Rikku would be able to recapture-_

_No, that's a worry for later. More important things right now, such as being in a fucking cage._

_I looked to Auron, playing his words to me over again in my head. It was clear from his words that this cycle of death in which Spira found itself grated on him. I wondered, not for the first time, just what he had done with his life outside of being a Guardian to Braska, myself and, finally, Yuna. He had seen, heard, felt so much that he appeared, outwardly, to have grown desensitised to it, shielding his emotions from the events occurring around him. It was as if he had seen it all before..._

_Then again, he probably had. Not his first pilgrimage, this._

_In some ways, I envied him. His ability to remain in control of the situation, no matter how dire, was a trait I would have loved to have adopted. He could critically analyse any situation, poke holes in any plan but the most foolproof, and who could stand and laugh in the face of danger. I, on the other hand, struggled to contain my emotions, often allowing them to take control of my words and actions. Plans and I don't get along, and, although to a lesser extent of late, I would sometimes freeze up in the face of danger, if only for a split-second._

_I'm beginning to sound like Rikku, when she was comparing herself to Lulu. I suppose she would say the same to me as I did to her. She would remind me that I am my own man, and that that is a good thing, and something I should be proud of._

_If we had some privacy, she would placate me with kisses and softly whispered words of reassurance, reminding me that it was me she had in her arms, not some stuffy old man who can no longer find joy in his life._

_Well, at least that's how it went in my head._

_Auron had said that Spira would spiral through this cycle endlessly; he told me that Summoners would die for the Final Aeon, that Guardians would forever give their lives for their Summoners; that the very forces that pull the strings of this world from behind the scenes are all dead. He offered no alternative, no escape clause, no way to break the _fucking_ cycle._

_I would find a way. Yuna would not die, not on my watch. I would break the spiral._

_But if Auron, of all people, had not found a way then what could I do? I'm just a bloody Blitzballer, s'all I've ever been good at. Sure, I've gotten used to this whole Guardian thing, but I know full well I'm not all that brilliant. _

_My point is that Auron has always been a guide for me, a marker by which to judge my own actions. I have forever found myself lagging, but it is by how much that I can measure my own performance. And if he doesn't know what to do, then I am lost._

_Maybe there could be another alternative, then. A way to take Yuna away from all this, give her the full and happy life that she deserves. I've never met someone so kind-hearted and unfailingly generous as her, and it breaks my heart to see her like this; to see her despairing at the ruins of her shattered world. She needs to get away, to leave it all behind and forget it ever existed, to start over again. Clean slates, and all that._

_I wondered, for a moment, what it would be like if we found my old Zanarkand. We could all go there, and I could show them the stadium that made Luca's look like a training ground, and the skyscrapers that would eclipse Bevelle. Take them up to the forests to the west, where we could have picnics and watch the animals go about their days; take them to the cliffs to the east and go caving, or we could jump off them into the water. Wakka and Rikku and I could have a diving contest, and then, once we'd climbed back up, we would all jump in together. The others would laugh, or tut over our antics. I could show them where I lived, where I lost._

_I could take Rikku on sunset walks along the shoreline, basking in the late glow of the sun. I could show her machina that would make her head spin, before she got that twinkle in her eye and scratched her chin a little as she learned something new.  
_

_We could all be happy. Even Auron could crack a chuckle, and Kimahri a smile.  
_

_But it could never happen. I would never get back to Zanarkand. I would never go home._

_Didn't mean it wasn't nice to indulge a little._

* * *

_Macalania Woods, Camp site_

_7.37pm_

_We all needed the respite. No sleep for two days, on the run non-stop for a large portion of that time, and revelation after revelation will make anyone weary. It had taken every ounce of energy we had, drawing on reserves that instinct itself keeps in hand for the very situation we found ourselves in; running for our lives from predators far outnumbering ourselves. But we had made it out intact, at least physically. But I think we had all lost something these past forty-eight hours._

_Any lingering innocence or naivety we had held onto until now had departed. None of us felt this more than Yuna, whose very purpose in life had been shaken to the core. The beliefs by which she had chosen to define her very existence, the pedestals on which she had placed her idealogical leaders, had all come crashing down around her. She had remained quiet upon our escape to the woods, and had, once we settled into our place to stay the night, disappeared into the night, asking for some time alone._

_None of us doubted she had some gaping emotional wounds. Trouble is, no-one seemed to want to be the one to help her through it. They all sat there, staring into the fire or gazing into the night sky, feeling sorry for themselves. Even her family, real or surrogate, had chosen to ignore her problems and leave her to it._

_With a defeated sigh, I rose unsteadily to my feet. The running, fighting, and severe emotional beating had left me a mess, but I was sure I could stay on my feet for a while longer. Just don't count on me to be solving any great mysteries with my mind being such a mess._

_Throwing a grumpy look at the others, who could only offer embarrassed grimaces or steely defiance in return, I made my way from the camp. I walked onto the path, which was far less beaten than the main carriageways through the forest. We had to go well off the beaten track before we felt at all comfortable settling in for the night._

_The trees here were far more dense and appeared older, more weathered, yet held a presence that drew you toward them so much more than the younger, heavily-punished trees in which the fiends would hide in wait for human prey. I felt safe among these, as if I was surrounded by a troop of sentinels. I knew they would let no fiend through._

_I doubt any fiend had set foot in my destination._

_We had noted its presence as we were setting up camp, all of us acknowledging its raw ethereal beauty. The spring was so unlike the one we had visited previously; it was virtually untouched, a natural gradient making it ever so easy to walk into without losing your footing. A great tree rose from the middle, possibly the oldest in the forest, towering above all those around it. The spring itself glowed from within, the magicks working inside this great wood collecting in high density within the shallow pool._

_I passed Kimahri by the entrance, pausing for a moment to give him a nod in gratitude. At least someone had felt it wise to monitor her, if not comfort and commiserate with her outright. He offered me, little more than a slight dip of the head in return, but hey, this is Kimahri we're talking about here. From him, that's almost a declaration of lifelong devotion._

_I passed through a natural archway formed by the trees on either side of path, and, as I passed the threshold, allowed myself to draw a slight gasp in awe. The spring was as beautiful as it had been when I had first seen it. The moonlight cast everything in a different light to the waning afternoon sun, and it was, if anything, more spectacular now than before. The inner glow from the pool was now much more pronounced, lending a slightly blueish tint to everything around it. The light glinted off of the growths extending from the trees, making the very woods themselves appear to sparkle. And in the middle of it all, standing waist-deep in the water, was Yuna._

_Her back was turned to me. She stood still, steady, as she gazed at the great tree in front of her. The light from the spring cast a glow around her, making her look angelic, inhuman. The glow appeared to concentrate around her, as if the water were aware of her presence. As magickal as this wood is, I frankly would not be surprised if it were._

_I walked slowly toward the bank, trying to get a read on her before I approached. She appeared taut, her back ramrod-straight and shoulders tense. There was tension radiating off of her in waves, yet I only knew that because I had spent the vast majority of the last months in her company. Anyone who didn't know her mannerisms so well would assume she was perfectly fine. I guess that's what she was aiming for. Didn't work on me, though._

_All this suggested she was aware of my presence; unsurprising, really, given the total silence of the spring and my own footfalls crushing dead leaves and undergrowth with each step. She did not yet acknowledge me, however, so I took some more time to gauge her, and try to figure out the best way to begin._

_I tried to put myself in her shoes; try to wonder how I would feel if everything I had ever known was proven to be a lie. Put that way, I didn't have to look any further than my own experiences._

_I had lost Zanarkand. The home I had grown up in and grown to love, the only place I knew, had been destroyed one thousand years ago. I had somehow been transported here, to a world without pretty much everything I had grown to rely on. Technology was virtually non-existent, at least for the vast majority of Spira. Maybe that's what initially drew me to the Al Bhed; they were quite happy to use technology, and actively sought out the very things which I had used and seen on a daily basis in Zanarkand. When I had landed in regular Spira, I had missed the Al Bhed's attitude to machina._

_Myself and Rikku had found it a fun topic for conversation. She would ask about what machina we may have had for this, that, or the other and I would explain to her what we had. For the most part I had no idea of the inner workings, but I could give her the basic idea. She would listen to my stories, fascinated by the subject matter, and ask all manner of questions about the machina. We would go on for hours, sometimes._

_But it was more than the machina. I missed my way of life. looking back, it was so simple; I would wake up, practice some Blitz, please some fans, maybe see some acquaintances, greet some more fans, and then play Blitz. Afterwards, I might go to an after-party or something if there was a day off the next day. I had never had any truly close friends there, but I still had fun. Because, at the end of the day, I never really had to worry. I just had to keep myself in line and in shape, because the talent was already there. If I did that, then I had my job assured and could continue to live comfortably. Sin took that away and threw me into this battle for respite, from tyrants both obvious and hidden._

_I had loved Zanarkand, and Sin had stolen it from me. Sin - Dad - would pay._

_I therefore felt that I understood Yuna. We had both lost our little worlds, they had both come crashing down in a matter of moments, and we were both lost. I'm sure Auron would come up with something profound and eloquent to describe it, but all I can come up with is this:_

_We both know loss. Neither of us has the first clue as to how we can deal with it._

_Don't get me wrong, I'm not pining after my home every moment of every day. I miss it a lot, and I do have the occasional daydream about it, but I don't obsess. I have found some new joy, some form of acceptance of my new situation – thanks in no small part to a certain perky Al Bhed – but it didn't quite feel whole. People who have always lived with a home will not understand this, but here goes anyway. Home is an anchor. It keeps you from going adrift, it's somewhere you can always return to. Without a home, you simply wander around, looking for a comfort that isn't there, a security that you cannot achieve. You can run, but there will never be a final destination. You will always be lost._

_Rikku would understand me. After all, she had lost her Home twice now. She had been forced to watch as it was levelled on her own father's orders. I've had a lot of trouble with losing my own home, but shit, how did she sleep after that?_

_Oh, wait. I remember. Yes, I most certainly remember how she could sleep. I think anyone would after _that_ workout. I was still sleeping that off days later._

_Regardless, if I were to truly compare our situations I don't quite know who should be the biggest basket case. We had all lost so much, both physically and emotionally, that we should be in a loony bin. But we persevered. No other option was acceptable to us._

_But what if we could escape it all, what if we could leave it all behind and live the simple life, the wake up and practice and frolic and _live_. No sacrificing yourself for a cause which doesn't truly exist. No giving your life up for a tyrannical pseudo-government. _

_Yuna would understand. She would have to._

_She spoke first, her back remaining turned to me. Her posture had not relaxed, and as she spoke, seemed to become more and more tense. "I always thought that this would be easier somehow. I thought that everyone would help me... with all my new friends together beside me. I've been trying so hard." _

_From there, we let it all out. I tried to make her understand, make her see the other possibility. There is no shame in pulling back, in living another day, right?_

_Right?_

_She indulged in my fantasy world, of the lot of us heading off to Zanarkand and living the life I had always wanted there. I merged the two lives I knew, I created for us a new home, a new world. I tried to make it perfect, I tried to convince her._

_It didn't work. She had made a commitment, and by her very life she would stick to it. There would be no turning back for her. She would give her life so that Spira may have relief._

_The spiral of death would continue. Never ceasing, never relenting._

_I saw then what I had to do. I saw what she needed. She felt as if the world was against her, the only rock stemming the tide of death. But she would try, and she would never give up, because if it wasn't her, then some other poor sod would have to do it instead. And for Yuna, that simply wasn't acceptable._

_There was only one way I could think of. One way I could help. She would have to know that she wasn't alone and, being in the rut that she was, it was unlikely to register unless it was force-fed to her._

_I approached her as she cried her heart out, weeping over the loss of the life she never had. I didn't notice my approach until I was within a couple of feet, and she reacted with surprise, looking up at me as if she were falling apart. I knew that if I could not reassure her now, then she would be forever lost to the sorrow which she now felt. My previous conclusions about the support I thought I could give her thrown out the window at the sudden realisation of the gravity of the situation, I improvised._

_After all, how better to tell someone that you'll support them, until the end?_

_Her lips were soft, unblemished. I wondered briefly if this were her first kiss, but those thoughts were squashed by the sensations flooding from the nerves contacting her. I felt her relax into the kiss, and, as if flicking a switch, all the tension washed away. The rollercoaster of the last few days, scratch that, the last week had left us both a mess, and this, this coupling, was something we could both hold onto._

_I let myself go with the flow, maintaining a physical authority but allowing her mannerisms to dictate my moves. It was sweet, so very different to being with Rikku; innocent, a promise, a communication on a different, but no deeper, level. I didn't expect the same connection as I had with my Al Bhed best friend, and did not achieve it._

_I could sense her taking a different path with the kiss to what I was expecting. She was so very tender, seemingly putting her all into it. I continued to allow her to lead the way, but a small measure of doubt began to creep in. I wondered what she would be reading into this, and whether she had really understood me. When she pulled back briefly, I could see the truth. I could see the __desperation in her eyes. She had found something to cling to, and would not be giving it up. If she lost it, I had no doubt that she would break._

What have I done?_ I asked myself. The answer, left unsaid, caused my gut to clench._

_When we eventually surfaced, the true measure of the hole into which I had dug myself was well and truly clear. She held onto me as if her life depended on it – which, as it stood, may well have been the case. I considered for a moment letting myself continue to go with it; there was no doubt that she is a remarkable woman. Strong, caring, sweet and oh-so-sincere. I could be comfortable._

_But my thoughts returned to Rikku. To unbridled passion and gangly limbs and spiral eyes and adventure. With Rikku, I had no assurance of comfort, but that's not what I was looking for. Rikku offered endless entertainment, an odyssey to nowhere, and the chance to be truly alive. There would be no cushy home, housewife, two-point-four children with Rikku. In its place, there would be the greatest journey I could conceive of._

_The realisation shook me to my core. I stopped breathing momentarily, breaking out into a sweat and slamming my eyelids shut. How cruel could one man be, to snog one girl then, immediately afterwards, throw her aside mentally in favour of another. And not just as a passing fantasy, either. For I knew, then and there, where my heart truly lied._

_The question, of course, was what to do about it._

_Yuna had to finish her pilgrimage. I would see her through that, if I never did anything else. It would take me to Zanarkand, and besides, Rikku would never leave her either. Whomever I choose, I would be making this journey._

_But could Yuna make it if she knew? If she were to come back from the brink, only to be unceremoniously punted over the edge, would she fall to pieces? I had little doubt that she would. And if that were to happen..._

_Shit. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place._

_With Yuna's behaviour at that very moment, the bliss on her face and the sheer content that she radiated, I knew that the others would notice. Even if she were to make no public overtures, the dramatic shift in mood would set off all kinds of alarm bells. And Rikku... she can read me like a book. Sometimes, it's like she can see every thought passing through my head, such is her understanding of the signs I give off. _

_I could only hope that she would understand this. I would have to keep Yuna happy, at least until we do what we have to do, and Rikku would understand and accept it. She would have to._

_I don't know what I would do if I lost her._

_So I reassured Yuna once more, confirming out loud to her what I had wanted to say for all of us, but which she understood to be from me only. Which she had taken wrong, and for which I will no doubt face retribution._

_We returned to camp together, Yuna wrapping her hands in one of mine. I was clammy and furtive, but she either didn't or chose not to notice, continuing her happy stroll. She looked to be walking on air – this being Macalania, that wasn't out of the question – and I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that every one of the others would know. Or, at least, they would think they know._

_As we approached the camp entrance, Yuna hung back a moment, suddenly unsure. I did not look back at her, continuing into the camp site with my eyes on the floor. As a result, I nearly collided with Rikku, who had sprung to her feet upon seeing me._

_My eyes snapped to hers, and, for once, I didn't lose myself in those jade spirals. Instead, I could hardly bear to look her in the eye, and so averted my gaze. But, in those short moments, I have no doubt that my eyes had told her everything she needed to know. All my guilt, all my regret, all my confusion._

_She knew. She slunk away to the other side of the camp site, refusing to look at me except for one brief glance we shared as she sat. In that one glance, I felt that future I had built for us fall apart._

_Tears, anger, a broken heart, and the deepest friendship I had ever known, seemingly irreparable._

_I had made the biggest mistake of my life._

* * *

I awoke.

_**End of Arc One**_


	10. Interlude I: Exodus

_A/N: The first interlude. For each of these, do bear in mind that the perspective will not necessarily be from Tidus' point of view, nor will it always be in the first person. They will, for the most part, be shorter than a standard chapter, but I feel them vital to the story, particularly if you wish to truly understand all sides of it, rather than just Tidus'. Therefore, I recommend you read them._

_It's about time this story got an antagonist.  
_

_Disclaimer: I do not own FFX or X-2._

* * *

_Mistake_

_Interlude I: Exodus_

They had waited so long. Patient, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

They hadn't always been this way. They were young, crass, and ill-disciplined. They were erratic, and they were ineffective. Their own shortcomings had landed them in this position. Over time, however, their will had tempered. Their skills had been honed to a single function. Their purpose had become clear.

Once they broke free, they would get their vengeance. The overworld dwellers would know fear, and they would know pain. They would overrun them, and they will retake their rightful place.

Every one of them knew this, for every one of them was one and the same. They had, in their isolation, become of one mind. Their circumstances had forced them to adapt, and now they had become the most formidable bringers of death in all of the world.

They stirred, sensing a change in the stream above them. A chink in the armour holding them in place had given them hope, and they now had a chance to unleash the plan that had been millennia in the making. The hate of the ages would bear down upon those with short memories, and they would ride again.

They had launched a couple of light skirmishes against their shell, testing the waters, so to speak. They had found the shell in a weakened state, as if it were being drained by a storm on the other side. They had little doubt as to the cause of this.

They had sensed the boy, passing through above them. This was not the first time they had sensed someone above, but they would usually only last a second as their soul passed from life to death. This boy, however, he stayed. They felt is anger, his hatred, and, most of all, his thirst. And so they used every power reserve their had to force their own brand of magick through the armour and to the boy. They planted ideas, suggestions, and encouragements, all things to ensure he would continue to weaken the shell.

The boy was effective. His selfish desire to satisfy his own desire for revenge would be the downfall of his race. Fitting, for these human traits are the very cause for their confinement. They can be either strengths or weaknesses, depending on ones' perspective.

The boy used his toy to create tears in the membrane confining them. As soon as these tears had formed, they launched a coordinated strike against the barrier. In its weakened state, it could not hold them for long, finally buckling under the pressure. Spent, they had to rest before pushing toward the tears, toward freedom.

They sensed a number of presences outside. From the aura they could feel, there were fayth there. But, with the fayth, they sensed another presence. Not quite alive, and not quite dead. Intrigued, they reached out lightly with their senses, getting the briefest glimpse of a boy similar to that which they had used before they were heavily rebuffed by a swift stroke from the fayth.

But they had marked the other boy. They would know him when they found him. He was so very different from the others.

Some time later, their energy had returned, and with it their onslaught. The tears, though forming, had not reached the size necessary for their passage. They would continue, until they broke through. It was their only option.

An indeterminate time later, they felt the membrane finally give way. Its destruction was accompanied by a rush of energy, of colours and lights and souls, and they greedily drank all they could. They were revitalised by it, as they took their fill after so many millennia.

They took stock of their surroundings. There were warped colours flowing all around them, bending through impossible angles and rushing into the hole they had just left. They pushed forward, towards where they knew the only thing standing in the way of their salvation lay. They sensed the farplane, in all its terrible glory, and they salivated.

They had finally achieved what they had waited for.

They had made the impossible possible.

They were through.


	11. Interlude II: Odyssey

_Mistake_

_Interlude II: Odyssey_

She had done all she could. She had, not for the first time, put her life on the line for Yuna's happiness. She had shoved aside her own safety, her own security, her own feelings, and had given everything for her cousin.

Because after all, if anyone deserves to be happy, it's Yunie.

Of course, it wasn't just for Yunie. The world needed saving, and, if something needs doing, then you should do it yourself, right? It was that philosophy that had earned her that tiny modicum of respect among the Al Bhed so early in life.

To the Al Bhed, it doesn't matter who you are. Everyone wears masks in the desert, anyway, so there's no point in counting on people to recognise you and give you passage for your name or face. No, for the Al Bhed, respect had to be earned. And she had achieved that; her early move into the salvage engineering sector, toiling away on the odd-jobs no-one else wanted, then slowly making her way through the ranks until she had got onto a salvage crew and became the captain of a recovery team. It was what had lead her to Baaj, after all...

Rikku sighed, closing her eyes as the wind whipped her braids around her face. She welcomed the feeling, enjoying the freedom of flight. It helped to clear her mind, shifting it on from dwelling on what could have been. She had been burying these thoughts for so long, it had become second nature. Every now and then, of course, something would remind her of her past. What could have been her future-

She stopped herself again. _Memories are nice, but that's all they are_, she had once said. Time to start listening to her own advice.

As she and the rest of the Gullwings hurtled from Bevelle on the Celsius with no particular destination in mind, she thought back on the last couple of days. After finishing off Vegnagun and leaving the Farplane, the lot of them – Gullwings, Syndicate, and faction leaders alike – had had a few hours kip before calling an emergency press conference in the Blitzball stadium in Luca for that morning. They all felt it was time to put a stop to the infighting holding Spira back from truly moving on from its past mistakes. From the cheers of the crowd, they all allowed themselves to believe they had finally gotten through to the masses.

It was a fitting conclusion to an epic journey, one which had changed all of them forever. Paine had opened up at long last, Yuna too had broken out of her shell, Leblanc had found it within herself to actually be _nice_ – even if it was just for Nooj's benefit – and the three heads of factions had finally made cranium-rectum separation and started working together, instead of against each other. Even Gippal had co-operated!

Of course, aside from the whole saving the world again thing, the mission had begun with them looking for a certain someone. Kimahri had given her a sphere, she had shown Yuna, and suddenly they were off all over the world searching for someone they had both believed gone. But there was no denying the light of hope in either of their hearts. Not that she had let it on, not to Yunie. That would never do.

After all, if anyone deserves to be happy, it's Yunie.

Would Rikku ever get her own happy ending? She had no idea. But first she had to make sure Yunie got hers. She had put her life on the line for that goal twice now, and she'd be damned if she failed to deliver this time.

"Girls, you might want to see this," came Buddy's voice over the intercom. "I just picked up one heck of an energy spike."

"Coming!" Rikku called, as Paine nodded. At Yunie's pleading look, Rikku waved her away, telling her to stay up on deck. She could understand the desire, after all.

As Rikku and Paine made their way to the bridge, Rikku wondered after their other friends. Lulu would be very close to giving birth by now, if she hadn't already. Wakka had said she was close on the commsphere. It would be nice to drop by and lend their support, she thought. Maybe they could go and collect Kimahri and bring him over. Take the chance for a reunion of sorts.

They stepped out of the lift and onto the bridge, passing Shinra on their way to Buddy. Rikku allowed her eyes to linger on Shinra for a moment, feeling a burst of pride in the little guy. He was so young, and he had so much potential. She could see herself working _for_ him, in the future. He would probably be in charge of the entire Al Bhed engineering department in a decade. Either that, or goggles-deep in research & development.

She reached Buddy, peering over his shoulder at the readout from oscillo-finder. He filled her in as she read. "I was sitting here, not doing any kind of local scan, when suddenly the passive Spira-wide scanner raises all kinds of alarms and I've got red alerts all over my screen. It registered a massive yet unfocused energy spike off the coast of Besaid. Right here," he said, pointing at the screen. "Check it out?"

"Yeah," I mumbled. This was more than a little worrying. The magnitude of that spike had been on a level they had never sensed before. Not only that, but its frequency spectrum bared no resemblance to any of their previous readings. After all they'd been through in the last month, heck two years, she hoped against hope that it was nothing sinister.

Buddy directed Brother toward Besaid and began a detailed scan of the area surrounding the spike. He told her to kick back and take a rest, as they were unlikely to learn anything new until they got within ten or fifteen miles of the epicentre. At their current air speed, that would take a couple of hours.

She and Paine headed for the cabin, where they both settled in and tried to entertain themselves. After they had both tried to avoid the topic for the last hour, Paine finally asked her, "You do know that spike was like nothing we've seen before, right?"

Rikku nodded. She had most definitely noticed, and it troubled her far more than she liked. "Yeah. I just hope it's nothing bad, y'know? Not so soon. I haven't even had a chance to have a rest or a big meal or sunbathe or -"

She stopped as Paine let out a chuckle, despite herself. So rare were moments when Paine's shell cracked that she couldn't help but stop and truly take it in.

"You should laugh more often, Paine."

"You should laugh less, Rikku."

She rolled her eyes, giggling slightly. Of course, that only served to reaffirm Paine's statement. Oh, well.

As her eyes came back to rest on Paine, she spotted movement over the warrior's shoulder. Yunie was walking through the doorway, looking thoroughly mussed up by the wind and with a big smile on her face. She came over and lowered herself primly into the chair next to Rikku, before ruining the image completely by putting her feet up on the table.

"So, what was that all about?" Yuna asked, watching the both of them expectantly. Rikku and Paine filled her in as best they could, concluding by restating Buddy's belief that they were unlikely to know much more until they got close to the location of the energy spike.

Yuna shrugged her shoulders slightly, agreeing with their assessment. Rikku could tell she was worried, but there was no use fretting until they got to Besaid.

It was a tense few hours wait.

As the time stretched toward four in the afternoon, the three Gullwings could be found trying their best to keep themselves occupied. Yuna had laid down on her bed and tried to have a nap, Paine had left for the bridge, and Rikku could be found in the engine room.

She had always found it soothing amongst the oscillating machinery. As the pistons moved back and forth around her in an entirely predictable pattern – assuming Brother wasn't being an idiot - with a consistent noise, she could allow her mind to rest. She sat with her back against the wall at the rear of the room, legs stretched out before her. She had allowed her mind to clear, driving all her worries and fear about the unexplained energy spike with a strong burst of mental willpower. She had been in that state for the last hour, simply allowing the engine to continue its calming effect.

Her rest was finally broken by the crackle of the intercom. "Alright, girls, it's T-minus ten minutes. You'd best get up here and get prepared."

"Roger," Rikku mumbled to herself, knowing Buddy wouldn't hear her over the ambient noise in the room. She picked herself up, the butterflies returning to her stomach now that they were nearing their destination.

When she arrived at the bridge, the others were crowded around a visualisation of the scan on Shinra's monitor. It showed very little so far, the only distinction to be made being the difference between land and sky. It would improve as they got closer.

"Anything new?" she asked them, sliding her way in-between Paine and Yunie before leaning to the side in order to get the best view she could past Shinra's head. Paine huffed at her, while Yuna cracked a smile at her antics.

"Nothing as of yet," Shinra said in disappointment. "The feed should update about... now!"

As he finished speaking, the visualisation sharpened suddenly. The beach of Besaid could now be seen curving before them. The oscillo-finder reading visualiser showed a series of energy waves, starting on the sea bed about a mile from the shore. The pulses of energy were concentrated there, as if whatever was causing the release had spent a great deal of time in one position. However, the source of the waves had clearly moved toward shore, as a weaker trail of readings could be seen in a path leading toward the beach.

"Looks like we've got a monster of deep on our hands," Rikku said, putting on an ominous air. Paine scowled at her, crossing her arms.

"Keep quiet and wait until we get a visual feed." Rikku huffed in annoyance, grumbling to herself about sword fighters and their preferences for where they keep their sword when it wasn't in use. This brought another smile, as well as a slight chuckle, from Yuna.

An uncomfortable five minutes passed as they all stared at the screen, waiting for more information. When it eventually did update, they could see that, whatever the target was, it was moving closer to the shore. Not quickly, but almost as if the current were pushing it along, carrying it to the beach.

A few minutes later, Shinra suggested they try the visual feed. He brought it up and set it side-by-side with the oscillo-finder visualiser. They couldn't yet make out individual figures, the feed merely showing the nearside of Besaid as the sun began to make its' way toward the horizon. Beautiful as it was, it wasn't what they were looking for.

Finally, they spotted something. Just as the visualiser updated once more, showing the target had breached sea level, they saw a tiny figure raise appear in the water. Still too far to make out any distinguishing features, they merely continued to watch and wait for the image to clear up. They didn't have to wait long, what with the speed they were travelling.

There was a man, straightening himself in the water and shaking himself off. As the image improved in resolution, she let free a gasp, hearing one released equally as loud by her cousin standing next to her.

Unbidden, her mind flicked back to the brief conversation Yunie had had with Bahamut in the Farplane. She had thought little of it at the time, but now...

_No, it couldn't be_, she told herself. _No way. No fucking way._

But it could. And now that her mind had considered the possibility, it couldn't dismiss it. That's what love is like, after all.

Unexplainable. Uncontrollable. And, if what she saw before her was what she thought it was, about to make her life a whole lot more complicated.

She was operating on auto-pilot. She turned for the lift and began sprinting. It only registered once she had got to the lift and mashed the call button a few times that Yunie had already left and jumped into it. She ran for the emergency stairs, already knowing that Yunie would beat her to the beach.


	12. Chapter 9: Awakening

_A/N: And so begins arc number two. Now that Arc One – what could be described as an extended prologue – is complete, we arrive in the present day, in the concluding moments of FFX-2. Pretty soon, we'll be in uncharted territory._

_I apologise profusely for the delay in the release of this chapter. I was buried under work, which quickly gave me writer's block. Pretty soon, I'll be too busy to write once more. Summer holidays are just a month away now, which should hopefully spring a flurry of updates._

_I don't know if I've ever said this before, but I don't use a beta for this story. Heck, I don't even proof-read. As such, there may be a couple of grammatical errors/ typos._

_Disclaimer: I do not own FFX or X-2._

* * *

_**Arc Two**_

_Mistake_

_Chapter 9: Awakening_

I awoke.

The first sense that returned to me was touch. I could feel a heavy pressure around me, the cold flow of a dense fluid passing over my skin. Hundreds of hours spent playing and practising Blitzball had acquainted me well with these sensations. I was underwater.

Next came taste. My mouth was parched, dry with dehydration. I opened my mouth slightly, allowing just a little water in. It eased the discomfort whilst allowing me to keep my breath.

Then came my hearing. The steady hum and slosh of the water as it flowed over my body and into and out of my ears blocked out all other sounds.

I could smell the fish that were no doubt nearby. The sudden influx of this smell caused a great jolt to come from my stomach, as it informed me that it was empty and would continue being angry at me until I rectified the problem. Then again, I wasn't about to go charging after live fish. That never worked out.

Last came my sight. I opened my eyes blearily, seeing nothing but blackness. I quickly realised that my arms were blocking by face, as I had curled into a foetal position. I unfolded myself, stretching tight muscles and popping joints with satisfaction. I opened my eyes fully now, taking in the surroundings.

I was clearly quite deep underwater as there was very little sunlight here. However, there was a gentle glow being emitted by the high number of pyreflies that seemed to extend in all directions. They danced with me for a moment, before winking out one by one. As the last left, I heard a soft voice inside my head.

"_Good luck,"_ it whispered. The presence left.

_Thanks Bahamut,_ I thought. Man, did I owe him one.

As the need for air grew, I began to swim for the surface. As I drew closer, a wide smile stretched across my face. I had been given a second chance. That's one more than the vast majority of people get, for sure.

I broke the surface of the water, gasping for air. I felt the sun on my face, heard the gulls cawing in the air, and heard the lapping of tiny waves against the shore. I couldn't help but draw parallels to the first time this had happened, for I knew exactly where I was. Back in Besaid once more. I couldn't help myself as I whistled to the shore.

I swam for shore at a steady pace. My muscles felt weak and stiff, and my head was foggy. It was clear I needed hydration and sustenance pretty sharpish. Once I was close enough, I swung my legs beneath me and stood in the shallow water. I began to walk, shaking off the water as I did. The heat of the mid-afternoon sun beat down on me, causing the droplets of water covering me to evaporate quickly. As I drew closer to shore, I heard a humming from above, growing steadily louder. I turned, and was confronted by a sight I had only ever seen from within... the in-between.

The Celsius approached rapidly, only levelling from its dive when it touched down on the sea. It ground to a halt almost on top of me and, as I turned to protect myself from the wash of water that assaulted me, a hatch opened from underneath the fuselage of the airship.

When I saw who had jumped from the hatch, it was as if I had been punched in the gut. After what had been said on the deck of the Fahrenheit two years ago it was hardly surprising, but I couldn't help but hope.

Don't get me wrong, I was glad to see her and, when I did smile, it was genuine. And when she reached me and threw her arms around me, my return hug was earnest. But it just wasn't the same.

You can't start a fire without a spark.

She asked me if I was real. I couldn't truly know for sure, but, after everything that had happened in that void and with the fayth, I had a hunch. So I told her that yes, I thought I was real. And I was home. Not Zanarkand, not the Abes, not that dream life. No, this – Spira - had become home. And I was so, so glad to be back.

I heard laughing from around us. I heard Wakka shout at us to get a room, but it barely registered as I got tunnel vision. I only had eyes and ears for the one I had heard laughing through all the others. There was no mistaking that sound. And there she was, just as I had seen her through those windows to the outside world. I wanted to run to her, to hold her, to promise to fix everything I'd done.

But I couldn't, because Yuna was dragging me toward the shore. As I was turned toward the crowd forming on the beach, everything came into crystal clarity. I quipped back at Wakka, much to the amusement of the gathered spectators. I saw Lulu, holding a newborn baby in her arms. If its hair was anything to go by, there was no doubt as to its father.

As Yuna picked up the pace in her urge to get us to the beach, I thought, just for a second, that I heard Rikku again. I dismissed it as a figment of my imagination, however, and turned to Yuna.

"You know, you've changed," I told her. It was true; she seemed much more confident, clearly more comfortable with herself and her position in the world. Time had changed her. Well, that and doing concerts, I was sure.

"Well, you missed a few things," she returned, laughing to herself a little.

I was curious, as I had no doubt as to the fact that what I had seen in those images did not tell the whole story. I urged her on, and she began telling me of what had happened.

Before she could get very far, however, we were engulfed in well-wishers and jubilant locals. It seems a bit of a legend had developed around me. No doubt the people of Spira had noticed the strangely-dressed guardian Yuna had had on her pilgrimage, and it appeared that they had pieced together what they knew and extrapolated from there. My supposed return from the dead – though I wasn't sure it could be described as such, as it could be argued that I was never alive in the first place – had only served to fuel these speculations.

I heard all kinds of theories forming around me. I heard them talking of me being an aeon and Yuna simply calling me down from... wherever it was. They speculated as to our wedding date – wait, _what?_ - and how long it would be until we had children. Yuna clearly had no objection to these theories jumping out as she simply relished the fawning and congratulations and held my hand in a death grip. I tried to worm it free, but she only gripped harder. I poked her in the shoulder and told her that I was losing feeling in my hand, and she simply switched to my other side.

It seemed I was stuck.

Suddenly, Wakka and Lulu were upon us, full of laughs and claps on the shoulder. I grinned at them, genuinely pleased to see them. Wakka was all smiles, sounding inordinately pleased at my return. He was a great friend, Wakka, despite his strong temper and often ignorant tendencies, which had – as the best friend and confidante of an Al Bhed – annoyed me often. He chatted away to me, talking of the past two years and what he saw coming for me, not noticing my attention shifting from him to the top of the crowd, catching a glimpse of honey-blonde hair.

Unlike the oblivious Wakka, Lulu had always been good at reading people. Now was no exception, and she quickly read my mood and, surprisingly, provided a respite. She offered – no, _insisted_ – that I held baby Vidina. So I did, reclaiming my hand from Yuna in the process. As she passed Vidina into my arms our eyes met momentarily, and I could feel her evaluating me; why I was reluctant to be attached at the hip to Yuna, why I couldn't hold her eyes, why I kept glancing up at the Celsius. I couldn't tell if she found any answers, however, as I broke my gaze from her down to the gurgling baby in my arms.

He yapped away happily in my arms, grabbing my pinky when I hovered it in front of him. A small amount of spittle dribbled down his cheek as he grinned at me, and I wiped it away with my gloved hand, chuckling at him. It was easy to see that he took after his father; I could imagine a miniature Lulu would be one gloomy baby, but this Wakka-clone couldn't stop laughing. He squirmed, not unhappily, until I jostled him up and down a little, making him squeal and laugh.

"He looks right at home, don't he Lu?" Wakka turned to Lulu, a crooked grin stretching his face. "I'm gonna have to watch my back when you're around, ya? Little guy might decide he liked you better!" He finished with a bellowing laugh, clapping me on the shoulder once more - though considerably gentler this time, conscious as he was of the fact that I carried his child. Fatherhood had obviously provided him with a little capacity for forethought.

I continued to hold onto Vidina – and he to me – as I sought to keep some semblance of distance between myself and Yuna. I do love the girl, but she was clinging to me in every way she could. Now that my hands were occupied, she had latched onto my elbow, curling both her hands around it possessively and grinning at all those around her.

It only made the conversations I knew I would have to have with her and Rikku all the more difficult.

As if sensing my shift in focus, Vidina scrunched his face up, beginning to emit a howl. Lulu quickly scooped him up, shushing him all the while as I stammered apologies over Wakka's reassurances that I did nothing wrong. My excuse for hiding gone, I turned my attention back to Yuna and the gradually-calming villagers, who quickly began shepherding me to the village proper for a 'party'.

They'd take any excuse for one 'round these parts. I can't blame them.

In short order everyone was bustled into a loose congregation in the centre of the village. A number of the men had volunteered to collect some firewood, and another had offered up some game to be roasted, much to everyone's appreciation. He waved off my thanks, merely stating that they were all glad to have me back, if only to bring a smile to their Yuna's face.

No pressure.

"So, of course, we simply _had_ to investigate after fighting off Bahamut," Yuna's voice came back into focus as my attention returned to her. She was still lost in her story, animatedly waving her free arm around to describe what she couldn't say. "And we went to Besaid and Kilika, Djose and the Sunken Cave, fighting these shadow Aeons the whole way!"

I honestly tried to pay attention, but, having lost the thread of her story a number of minutes before, it only left me feeling more baffled by the minute. The Aeons had come back? And they had had to fight them off? How come none of the fayth had mentioned this to me?

Oh, if I ever got to see them again there would be _questions_. And they would give me _answers_.

Not that I'm ungrateful, or anything. I just hate being in the dark.

"And then, of course, I had to get knocked off of the walkway and into the farplane," Yuna continued, rolling her eyes in exasperation at what had happened. "When I woke up, I was in a field of flowers. It was there that I first met Shuyin," a light blush graced her cheeks briefly, before she soldiered on. "He mistook me for his lover-"

"Lenne," I breathed softly, unwittingly, already knowing who she was talking about. I suppose she and Lenne did look alike, from what I could see of her performance on the Thunder Plains.

Yuna's surprise was quite evident on her face. "How did you know that?" And her voice, too.

"Long story. I'll tell you about it later," I tried to dismiss her inquiries, and it seemed she decided to humour me, as she continued with her story.

My attention quickly drifted from her again, however, as I spied a grey-haired figure dragging a clearly reluctant blonde behind her. Toward where Yuna and I sat. Their heads were quickly lost in the taller crowd, though their approach path was clear from the sharp movements away from other heads and their disgruntled exclamations of "Hey!" and "Watch it, lady!"

In seconds, they stood before us. The grey-haired woman, who I took to be the 'Paine' that Yuna had been talking about in her story, had obviously dragged Rikku toward us. I noticed, as Yuna's surprised gaze joined mine, that her eyes were red. _An albino, perhaps,_ I thought to myself.

Before either Yuna or I could open our mouths, my vision was obscured by blonde wisps and I had been knocked on my back by a tiny bundle of crying Al Bhed. Whatever hard feelings may be between us; whatever betrayals I may have committed, neither of us had ever let go of the closest friendship we had ever known. And that had clearly overwhelmed any previous reservations Rikku may have had about seeing me.

I dimly noticed that I, too, had wrapped my arms around her midsection in a bear hug. As I felt her tremble in my arms, murmuring incoherently into my shoulder, I ran one hand up and down her back. This seemed to comfort her slightly, as she stopped soaking my shirt through and simply held on.

I had no idea of the passage of time, but, after what felt like second and hours to me, she finally lifted her head from where it had been soaking my shoulder, turning to me. She twisted her torso in my arms, switching from being in between my legs to sitting astride my lap, still with her arms wrapped tightly around me. She faced away from the side Yuna sat on, perhaps attempting to separate this moment from the boiling emotions underneath. I know I was.

"E seccat oui. Cu silr," she whispered to me, raising a hand to entangle in the hair at the nape of my neck. {I missed you. So much.}

I cocked her a lopsided grin, revelling in the familiarity of the touch I had waited two years for. "E seccat oui, duu," I whispered back, raising my own hand to brush a loose braid behind her ear. It only sprung back again, causing me to chuckle lightly and her to smile and tuck her head back into my shoulder, sighing contentedly. {I missed you, too.}

This was definitely not the kind of private conversation she was joking that we could have once I learnt Al Bhed. No, the meaning behind our foreign words was clear to those observing. The _feeling_ behind them, however... that, I hoped, was another story. I doubted I could handle _that _revelations today, of all days. There's only so much my old heart can take, after all.

Our arms wrapped around each other, we were oblivious to anything but the tantalising, comforting contact of skin on skin. I had one arm behind her shoulder, the other coming to rest on her hip as she had curled her outer leg around me, locking her hands together behind my back as if trying to stop me from disappearing. I let my thumb tickle the skin just above her skirt lightly, causing her to squirm for a split-second before sighing once more and pulling herself ever tighter around me.

"Hem hem," well, oblivious to almost anything. My head jolted up in shock, suddenly remembering the world around us. Rikku gave no outward sign of recognition, merely filling the gap left by my head and tucking hers in yet closer.

A hush had fallen over those assembled near us, though the villagers further away continued their celebrations unawares. Those close by looked between the two of us and Yuna in a mixture of anticipation, curiosity and confusion.

I turned to Yuna now. She still sat in place, legs crossed with her body turned toward the pair of us. Her brows were furrowed slightly in confusion, though there was a slight smile on her face. She was probably glad to see the two of us reunited, knowing we had a strong friendship, but the ferocity of our reunion had likely taken her by surprise.

Paine sat beside her, lounging back with one hand on the ground and her opposite elbow resting on her upraised knee. Her head had cocked to the side a little, clearly curious as to the mechanics behind our clearly close companionship. I detected no animosity from her, however; she was clearly content to let things run their course, and watch the fireworks.

Conversely, Wakka and Lulu, who had sat behind Yuna, were watching with open bafflement and more than a little displeasure. Lulu I knew had noticed my reservations with regards to Yuna, and it seemed entirely plausible that some of her deducing abilities may have rubbed off on Wakka by now. They both sent looks of concern toward Yuna, whose gaze had turned from amiable to a little peeved.

It seemed I was stuck once more. At least I wasn't alone, this time.

Luckily, it seems my sister-in-arms had a moment of divine inspiration.

"So, what took you so long to come back, slow-poke?" Rikku chirped, pulling her head back slightly but not loosening from me in the slightest. It broke those around us out of their stupors, deflecting their attentions from our overly-affectionate exchange, though did nothing to distract the villagers. In fact, they were paying even closer attention now, no doubt interested in my response.

I could've kissed her. Probably would have, if we were somewhere a little more private. The inevitable slap would've been completely worth it.

Instead I chuckled, giving her a little poke in the ribs in retaliation. She squeaked, jerking back from it and sticking her tongue out at me. "Oh, I see how it is. You think you can just wander back in here and not explain your behaviour. Well, I'm not having any of it, mister!" she jabbed her index finger at me, adopting a mock-serious look and tone. Or at least it would appear that way to the casual observer. Those who knew her better would note the slight hitch in her voice near the end of her pronouncement.

Oh, I definitely wasn't getting away without giving some sort of an explanation. Luckily, I was more than prepared to offer one.

"After I faded," I began, looking between each of my friends as I spoke. "I think I ended up between the farplane and the reality we see here now. I had never lived, so I couldn't go to the land of the dead, right?" I tried to laugh at what had happened, but the chuckle caught in my throat as the raw distress and depression I had felt there came back to me. I tried to disguise it with a cough. "For a long time, I simply existed, not really noticing time passing. It was quite conducive to self-reflection, I can assure you," I did smile at that, giving Rikku a subtle squeeze which she acknowledged by catching my eyes and searching them. I didn't let anything through though, not out here in front of everyone. That discussion would be saved for later, in private. The others gave no indication that they had noticed our exchange, instead focusing on my words.

And so I told them of how I had resided in the in-between, of the lonely existence I had maintained for the last two years. I told them of my only company, the only outside interaction available to me; the fayth. I told them of the visions of the outside world, the bare bones of what I'd observed - after all, they'd been the ones living the visions, so didn't need to be told. I told them that ruptures had appeared in the fabric of what was around me, and that I had been drawn into it with the guidance of Bahamut.

I didn't tell them of what had caused the rips. I held back the stories of vast explosions, of ancient demonic beings pressing from within this very planet. No, it would not do to spread panic through the common folk; this was a tale for executive ears only, for now.

Yuna was unsurprisingly fascinated by my contact with the fayth, as she too had been on the receiving end of their favours of late. In particular, she was pleased I had heard from Lady Jyscal and that she bore no animosity toward us for what happened with her son. They were all pleased to learn that I knew of what had happened from Shuyin's perspective, as that would save them a lot of explaining. Rikku simply sat still and listened attentively, acting as a physical buffer between myself and the others for which I would be eternally grateful. It allowed me to truly settle down, and get my feet underneath me after all the changes I had gone through today.

She's always been a bit of an anchor for me, ever since I landed in Spira.

My brain told itself to think less sappy thoughts. It protested that two years of exile will do that to a man.

Two years alone make you talk to yourself too, it seems.

When I finished, we all sat in silence for a moment as I reflected and the others digested. The crowd of villagers had gathered around, the fire long since lit and game cooked through. The villagers appeared to have collectively decided to keep out of any discussion, however, instead watching and listening.

The only one who appeared unaffected by it all was Paine; her face a blank mask, she still sat in the same pose as she had since she had taken her seat. Her eyes betrayed no emotion, yet they watched me closely, calculatingly. It seemed unlikely I would slip anything by her.

Lulu, too, watched me guardedly. She, like Rikku and Yuna, had most likely picked up on the fact that I had omitted details. I had little doubt that there were gaping holes in my story as I had presented it, but I had to offer something to the public else they lynch me in their desperation for information. Wakka, on the other hand, had accepted my explanation at face value and was merely watching me with slight awe. I can't say I enjoyed the attention.

Yuna had a slight frown on her face as she worked and re-worked her way through my explanation. I assumed she was attempting to fill the gaps in my explanation herself, with what she knew. It would doubtlessly be a futile exercise, for the story behind what had happened to me, and what may befall Spira all too soon, was one which they may never have suspected.

Rikku, though, she could tell. She knew the reason I was hiding this information was not a good one. She could tell that I had something important to tell all of them, something which I had to keep from the masses. And it had unnerved her, if the change in her mood was any indicator – and it usually was.

I just hoped that they'd all be on my side with this one. We had to tread carefully.

My public explanation complete, we settled down for dinner. Everyone was fed their piece of delicious Besaidian meat and fruit, before we crowded around the fire and engaged in more idle discussion.

Rikku had long since removed herself from my lap, but remained steadfastly by my side, despite her slowly darkening demeanour. No doubt she was aching for a private chat – or perhaps shouting match, it was difficult to tell in this case -, but circumstances continued to conspire against her. Those circumstances being Yuna, who continued to try to engage me in talk of how Spira had changed in my time away from her position on my other side.

Like earlier, I made a genuine effort to pay attention to her, despite my own wishes for a little privacy with more than one of them. I learnt of the separate factions that had formed, and their various leaders. I was told of their rivalry with LeBlanc and her goons. I was glad to hear they had all set their differences aside in the face of the threat posed by Shuyin and Vegnagun, and the united front they had presented to Spira in Luca that very morning. Such a front would need to be maintained after I dispensed with the warnings I was keeping bottled inside.

A few more guests to what promised to be one heck of a discussion.

Shortly, Wakka and Lulu decided to call it a night, citing a lack of sleep the night before thanks to Vidina. Before leaving, however, Wakka offered up the now-disused Crusader's Lodge for me to stay in that night. I quickly accepted, appreciating the similarities to the first time I visited Besaid.

And two long and eventful years it had been since then, right?

Yuna and Paine followed shortly, though their lodgings were back at the beach, on board the Celsius. Yuna gave me one final, tight hug before departing, getting a reassurance from me that I would still be around the next morning. She giggled lightly at that, though her eyes betrayed her fear, before she finally departed.

That left me alone with Rikku.

As soon as Yuna and Paine passed out of sight, Rikku grabbed my hand and marched me into the Crusader's Lodge. I put up no struggle, merely walking along behind her, keeping up with the brisk pace.

As soon as we entered the lodge, she pulled back the drapes – which acted as doors here in Besaid – securely, before taking one deep, steeling breath and rounding on me, hands on hips.

"You have got some explaining to do, Mister!" she declared, scowling and pointing an accusing finger at me. "You were hiding something earlier, and don't you even begin to think about sleeping before you tell me _everything_! I don't want a detail left out, I deserve that much, or so help me I'll -"

"Alright, alright," I raised my hands in surrender. "I was planning on telling you anyways, it's not like I thought I could slip anything by you," I stopped for a moment, wondering where to begin. In the end, I settled for the very beginning.

For the first time, I told someone my full story. Of how I was a dream of the fayth, and what exactly that meant. Sure I had shared with the others that I would fade away, but only at the last minute. I had never truly told them why. So, Rikku became the first person to know what I was, and why I had faded.

"I already told you that I ended up somewhere not here and not in the farplane. It was a place that no being that was alive or dead could access, but those who were neither, like myself and the fayth, could," I frowned as I contemplated the implications of that. "I suppose I was the only dream there as I had had so much interaction with the world of the living. Most dreams didn't have the opportunity to form the connections I did.

"Anyway, I got to speak to the fayth as they pleased – they gave me updates on what was going on outside. The reason they felt they should inform me was because they... they sensed that I could play a role. That I could help them." At this, Rikku raised an eyebrow. I quickly continued. "You see, they weren't all that worried about Shuyin." Her second eyebrow rose. "There was something else, something they'd hidden deep inside the earth in a cage.

"Shuyin's actions wore away at that cage. The things that they had imprisoned used what he did to their advantage, breaking their prison wide open. It was from this that I could come back here."

Rikku was, by now, gaping openly. Her face had drained a little of colour, and her hands trembled slightly. I expected she would be in a worse state by the time I finished. "Basically, these things had been imprisoned in a bubble, a barrier very much similar to the one which separates the living and the dead. They are unable to pass through that barrier, and so they had to destroy it."

"Then how did they know about what was going on? And what are they?" her voice had a hysterical note to it, and I began to worry for her mental state. Well, if she couldn't take it then I truly worried for all the others.

"Well, Shuyin could pass through these barriers, see. He was an unsent, so he could simply pass right on through. Therefore, when he came stumbling across their prison – deep in the core of the planet – they took advantage and found out him intentions." Seeing she was about to interrupt again, I hastened to add. "I don't know how. I assume they can read minds or something." That answered her question, but failed to make her feel any better. It didn't exactly make me feel much happier, either.

"As to what they are... the fayth said that they were one of the Old World, that they were beings of great power. Somehow, they betrayed the other beings, and so they were contained within the earth, forever damned. The fayth think that, in the time since, they have evolved, or _de_volved, into a base form, with the single purpose of tearing life on Spira apart." She took one shaking step to the side, before dropping heavily into a seat, and putting her head in her hands. "Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction, too."

"I thought... I thought that after everything, that we would finally have some peace," she whispered despairingly. I walked forward and rested my hand on her head, running my hands through her hair reassuringly. She leaned into the touch, before speaking again. "Are they a threat?"

Her voice had been so small, so defeated, yet there was still a thrum of hope in there. I tried my best to keep that hope whilst relaying the truth as I knew it. "Yeah. Yeah, they are. They were powerful enough to tear down the barriers between the living and dead. And the fayth... they don't think they can contain them for long." She looked at me sharply at that. "Yeah, I believe Bahamut's words were 'they are too strong and too numbered', and that – now that the aeons are gone – the fayth just aren't strong enough."

"Can we stop them?" she asked the impossible question.

"Maybe." I just couldn't know. And she could tell. She stood up once more, stepping into me and resting her her on my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around her, but all too soon she had pushed me away, turning herself around and facing in the other direction with her arms pulled across her chest.

Oh, I knew that pose. It meant that she had shifted gears, and her next question would be-

"Why?" Again her voice was small, and barely carried to me. I could fill in the gaps though, particularly as she gained in fervour as she spoke. "I thought we had something pretty special. Then, all of a sudden, you go straight to her." She swung around, scowling with such ferocity that her face was barely recognisable; that expression had no place on her face, and I tried to interrupt, to explain, to wipe it off, but she talked over me. "We were so good together. But then... but then you just left me! What was it? Was it just sex to you? 'Oh, I've fucked her now, onto the next one'." She put on a mocking impression of me, glaring all the while. "Well, I'll have you know that that _fucking_ hurt, Tidus! And I cursed your _fucking_ name for _fucking_ weeks, maybe even months."

I weathered the assault as best I could, feeling fully deserving of her anger. She was right, after all. At the time, I had thought it was just sex, a little bit of fun and experimenting with my best friend. But, after I had fucked up, I knew all too well where my heart lay. I tried to tell her.

"I -"

"_Vilg_. E druikrd E ghaf oui, Tidus. E hajan druikrd oui luimt pa cilr y pycdynt. E hajan druikrd E luimt ajan ryja rydat oui.," she interrupted again, slipping into her native tongue as the pain she had felt returned, her voice trembling a little toward the end as tears worked their way slowly down her flushed cheeks. {Fuck. I thought I knew you, Tidus. I never thought you could be such a bastard. I never thought I could ever have hated you.}

That stung. From her actions today, up until the last few minutes, I really thought she had forgiven me, at least in part. I sincerely hoped that the past tense she had used when saying that meant she no longer hated me. Otherwise, I had a mountain to climb.

"It was never -"

I didn't get to finish that sentence, as the voice of Buddy - as I would later find out his name was - suddenly crackled out of the intercom lying on the table. "Rikku! Yuna! Paine! Anybody!"

Rikku walked over to it, giving me one final glare before picking it up. "This is Rikku."

"Baralai just got into contact with us. He said it's an emergency. Apparently, something's brewing under Bevelle."

Rikku gave me a look of worry, which was no doubt mirrored on my own face. We both had a hunch as to what would send the Praetor of New Yevon into a panic, and it did not bode well. Rikku tried her best to maintain her composure, as she nonchalantly said, "Roger that," into the intercom.

She broke the connection, keeping her eyes fixed to mine. "We'll continue this later," she said, before stalking out of the room and toward the beach to go wake Yuna and Paine. I let out a breath I had no idea I had been holding, before walking after her.

After all, we had at least had the chance to talk. And she hadn't killed me on sight.

* * *

_A/N: Yes, I know I've twisted the FFX-2 ending sequence a little. However, the changes are, for the most part, at a body language level. Event-wise, I tried to keep it true to the game._

_Inspiration for Vidina comes from my new second cousin._

_The line 'You can't start a fire without a spark' was in no way inspired by Bruce Springsteen's song Dancing in the Dark. No, Amy MacDonald's cover is far better._

_I now have a massive story plan. I hope I can execute it, as this story is now looking far, far longer than in the very early drafts. Sadly, my thinking for the second Arc is coming on a little slowly; I hope and pray that, when I finally think up a story thread, I'll be able to drop in the groove and really motor._

_Arc three will, hopefully, blow your minds. And may consume my whole life before I finally complete it, but hey, it'll be quite a ride getting there._

_After all, 'it's not the destination, but the drive there', am I right? … And now I've managed to quote NoGripRacing, too._

_Cheers._


	13. Chapter 10: Vigilance

_A/N: I now have a much clearer vision of the exact direction of the second Arc. This is a massive relief, as I was worried about writing myself into a corner. It's all joined up now, though. This, along with getting sidetracked by exams and travelling, are what derailed my writing. Maybe now I can get back into the groove._

_In between writing the last chapter and this one, I underwent an education in dialogue tags and beats. From here on in, they should all be correct. If not, then slap me._

_I suppose there's a lot of filler in this chapter. This will be the case for at least a little bit, as we work our way towards the real conundrum and climax of this arc. This second arc should be the shortest of the three, though the third and final may well be as long as the previous two combined. I'm not sure yet, and it depends also on how my own writing develops. I may become more descriptive, or I may start reducing the descriptions. We'll see._

_Disclaimer: I do not own FFX or X-2._

* * *

_Mistake_

_Chapter 10: Vigilance_

For the first time, I stood on the bridge of the Celsius.

The first thing I had noticed about the airship was that it was far more advanced than the Fahrenheit had ever been. Both the technology in the ship back when it had been crashed – which had, of course, been restored to the best of the Al Bhed's capabilities – and the new advances in machina that had been added to the ship by Shinra lead to it being the most advanced Airship in Spira, or so I was lead to believe.

It was top-notch, any road up.

The journey was spent making the prerequisite introductions. I met each of the crew, and was formally introduced to Paine. Brother I knew, of course – he gave me a brief nod of respect, which I returned, before greeting him in Al Bhed - but Buddy and Shinra were new to me.

Buddy I was quite impressed with. He spoke clearly and concisely, unnecessary information skimmed off. He also appeared to take my appearance in stride, though the fact he was entirely unfamiliar with me outside of any stories he might have heard from Yuna, Rikku or Brother may have helped.

Shinra was a strange nut. He clearly had in impressive intellect, particularly for one his age, yet he flaunted it every chance he had. Nevertheless, his 'flaunting' had brought a number of extremely useful technologies to the girls, and they were clearly fond of him. I suppose everyone has their faults.

Speaking of which, what kind of an excuse is "I'm just a kid"? That's just not good enough in my book.

We touched down gently on the outskirts of Bevelle. Alighting from the airship, I took the chance to observe the _Gullwings_ in their supposed element. After all, from the snippets Yuna had been able to get across to me as well as the glimpses I had got of their travels, they seemed to thrive on adventure and danger. Not at all surprising, considering their backgrounds.

Paine was first to leave the airship, immediately creating a perimeter, eyes peeled for any unwanted welcoming parties. She seemed to melt into the shadows, her steps light but deceptively rapid. She took all of thirty seconds to check the edges of the clearing into which we had landed, the angled and ancient trees of Macalania forest seemingly reluctant to fill this small space, barely a hundred yards across.

Yuna followed next, with Rikku hot on her heels. Yuna, not for the first time, wondered aloud at what Baralai could possibly want. I commiserated with her, as, I could see, did Rikku, whose bowed head raised only to give Yuna an apologetic glance. The poor girls had barely had a chance to catch their breath after the Shuyin saga, and were already being called to arms once more. They simply stood in the clearing, trusting Paine to do her job and waiting for the rest of us.

As I followed them down, I glanced back over my shoulder at the other members of our visiting party. Brother lead them out, head held high despite his obvious nerves. Or perhaps he was always that jittery and excitable... I certainly had first-hand experience of that particular trait.

Barely a step behind were his crew, Buddy and Shinra. Buddy's expression and mannerisms had not changed one bit from earlier, his demeanour entirely unflappable. I had to hand it to the guy, he was cool as Shiva. Shinra, on the other hand, would have been bouncing off the walls if there were any. It was as if someone had fed the kid a box of marshmallows, only to find he'd cleaned out the sugar bowl too. He clearly had no nerves about this, instead seeing the whole experience as a chance to learn more. I would have thought he knew enough of Bevelle already, but apparently not. They carried between them a brushed aluminium carry-case, the contents of which must have been expensive or delicate if their caution was anything to go by.

"Clear," stated Paine, returning to Yuna's side. Rikku, failing to stifle a yawn, rolled her eyes at the apparent ridiculousness of Paine's vigilance. Paine cuffed her over the head in response, scowling faintly. Yuna simply smiled serenely at their bickering, clearly used to it, before beckoning me over and leading us toward Bevelle.

We walked in companionable silence toward Bevelle, all of us a little too worn out for idle conversation. It was long past midnight, and I tell you, resurrection is _tiring_. I suppose that run punch which everyone was imbibing over on Besaid might have had something to do with it, too. Brother definitely looked the worst of us.

Rikku still avoided eye contact with me, and it had definitely been noticed by Yuna. Luckily, however, she was reluctant to broach the topic, at least under the current circumstances. Paine appeared oblivious to the drama, eyes peeled to the edges of the narrow path, watching for any movement. A couple of times she gave a start, only to relax a split-second later as whatever alarmed her was proven to be harmless. I wondered to myself whether she took anything for that anxiety, because there was no way I'd be able to stay sane if I was _that_ wired all the time.

The half-mile walk was completed without a hitch, and we arrived at the city limits in good time. Blocking the road into the city was a newly-constructed outpost, a permanent facility for the New Yevon guard to monitor and regulate traffic into and out of the city. It was a small metal building, a single storey dug halfway into the earth on the side of the road. Through the letterbox-style windows, light poured out and upbeat music played, as the guards tried to make the night pass as quickly as possible. Laughter and clinks of mugs could be heard, as what seemed to be a small group of them entertained themselves.

They must have some kind of proximity alarm, for when we got within twenty yards of the outpost muffled cursing could be heard as they shut off their music and set down their drinks. A loud crash could be heard, as one of them let out a cry. By the cacophony of smashes that occurred immediately after, we could only assume that one of the guards had knocked over a their drinks table in his haste. We all exchanged a bemused looks at their misfortune and inattentiveness.

A few moments later the group of guards emerged, lead by a decidedly grumpy-looking man. His red overalls – which identified him as a Captain in the New Yevon guard - and scruffy beard, coupled with a sizeable build, would have intimidated any petty troublemaker to cross him.

Of course, we weren't nobodies, and we simply became more amused as we took in the rest of his group, all of whom appeared to have been in some kind of bar fight judging by their appearances and odours. Yuna and Rikku barely hid their grins behind their hands, but I had no such qualms and openly chuckled.

A bad idea, perhaps, as big bad grumpy turned his ire on me.

"Can we help you?" he asked, clearly expecting me to lose my grin and apologize for the intrusion. This expectation was emphasised by his right hand sneaking down to the side of his waist and wrapping around the butt of the flamethrower strapped to his side. However, this effect was greatly reduced by the fact his gun was covered in what smelled like mead and, out of his line of sight, one of his subordinates – who was clearly struggling not only to keep his mind on task but also to stay upright – trying to take a swig from an empty hip flask, before turning it upside down and shaking it in disgust.

"Nah, we're just passing through," I replied, struggling to keep my voice from cracking at the look of pure despair on the face of the inebriated guard. I paused momentarily, gathering myself, before heading off whatever response the Captain was forming. "We'll just let you lads get on with your night." I received a poke in the ribs from Rikku for that, causing me to yelp and turn a mock-affronted glare at her.

She poked her tongue out at me, muttering "Behave," before turning back to the guards. Before I could point out the irony in that statement, the Captain interjected.

"Nobody passes through tonight, Commander's orders. Go back home, kids." With that, the Captain turned and motioned his troops into the outpost, and starting to follow them in. He was halted in his tracks as Yuna stepped forward and spoke up.

"We were called here by the Praetor." That's one way to make the guards think twice. The Privates wheeled around, surprised. Even the captain appeared to be on the back foot after that statement, as his mouth opened and closed wordlessly for a few moments. That was all it took, however, for the mead-loving Private to get a better look and make the connection.

"'Ey, aren't you that fit lass off the sphere?" he asked walking closer to her, his expression suggesting extreme concentration as he eyed Yuna up and down. She was clearly uncomfortable with this observation, and Paine threateningly began to unsheathe her sword, but the guard either didn't notice or didn't care. "Yeah, you're that one that does the singing with the sexy dress. You look like that sum- er, sum-thing that did in Sin. My girlfriend likes to dress up like you before we make-"

"Enough, Private , or I'll strip you of rank rather than your clothes," the Captain interrupted fiercely, grabbing the back of the Private's uniform. He pulled him back and threw him into the arms of a very surprised guard, who collapsed under the added weight. Oblivious, the Captain continued, "My apologies, Lady Yuna. I did not see you there. I shall make the call up to HQ, to confirm your statement." With that, he stalked back into the outpost, leaving behind him an awed group of guards... plus one drunkard who had now clearly decided it was bedtime and had passed out.

Yuna stood there awkwardly for a moment before Rikku reached up and made a comment in her ear, sending the High Summoner into a fit of giggles. I didn't catch all of it, but I was sure I heard a reference to how he'd struggle to keep it up for his girl in that state.

A few minutes later, an apologetic Captain came back outside. "Lady Yuna, you are of course correct. May I escort you to the Palace, m'lady?"

Ignoring Paine's snort, Yuna smiled at the Captain. "No thank you, we'll make our own way up." When the Captain nodded in acquiescence, we stepped on past them, Brother taking the opportunity when their backs were turned to express his appreciation for the inconvenience.

To reach the Palace, we had to walk through the commercial district of Bevelle. It was fairly bustling compared the outer limits, with men, women and children running amok as they celebrated. We passed a large sphere-screen embedded into the wall of a bar, with a group of people crowded around. A news reporter stood in somewhere on Gagazet, bracing against the weather. _"Yes, I'm here on Mount Gagazet where it appears a new fissure has opened just a half-mile from the fabled Fayth Scar. We have heard unconfirmed reports that there is something of scientific sig-"_

The report was changed over by an annoyed shop owner, flicking it back to a Blitzball highlights programme. I saw, of all things, the _Gullwings_ playing the Goers, and snapped my head to the others. Rikku mouthed "later," before dragging me along. Now that was one story I had to hear.

Twenty minutes later, we were deep in the heart of Bevelle. At this time of night, the city would usually be far quieter, however, the apparent ceasefire between the three competing factions of Spira had sent the city into a party. Nothing like the levels of celebration seen after Sin was felled once and for all, but there was still a firework lighting up the sky from somewhere in the city every thirty seconds or so. However, what we could not miss was the extreme presence and vigilance of the guards, way out of proportion with the size of the potential disturbance from these celebrations. It was clear that something had the New Yevon command spooked, and they had their city guards on high alert.

As the Palace came into view, I couldn't help but take a moment to admire it. It may have been created by an oppressive regime which lied to it's people fore a thousand years, but it sure had impressive architecture. When one considers the Palace with respect to the rest of Bevelle, there is one word which springs to mind: scale. It takes the smaller shrines and temples throughout Bevelle and up-scales them a hundredfold. From the VIP entrance – if you will - the building appears massive, towering high into the sky and making you feel dizzy if you stare at it for too long, yet that entrance was fully two-thirds of the way up the structure. From the ground public entrance, where we stood now, it is a simply daunting structure, easily rivalling some of the skyscrapers I had known back in Zanarkand.

We stood now at the ten-storey high main doors, which had not, I was told, been opened since they were shut to whether an assault from the Zanarkand forces a full millennia ago. In the time since, numerous side entrances had been constructed, all of which had tight security checkpoints around them. I suddenly questioned Yuna's choice of us continuing unescorted. We could only hope that these guards had received the call from their Commander. Yuna, too, appeared to be thinking along the same track.

We approached what appeared to be the main public entrance, a set of double doors with a heavy guard presence behind them. At this time of night, there was no queue.

A chime sounded as we stepped through the door, Paine leading the way once more. A bored and very weary-looking guard sat in a booth to the side, and a gate barred our path through. The passageway was rather cramped, and Buddy and Shinra had to wait outside with their case for now.

"The Palace is closed to visitors," the guard began monotonously, not looking up from his lap where I assumed a book sat. "Opening hours are from nine-thirty in the morning until six o'clock in the evening. Please come back then and you can enjoy a tour from one of our dedicated attendants for just fifteen Gil per person. Furthermore-"

"We're here to see the Praetor," interrupted Paine, her voice quiet yet firm. The guard started, looking up suddenly and almost falling off his chair in the process. A thud could be heard, confirming my suspicion that something had been in his lap, only for him to unsettle it in his surprise. He looked to each of us in turn, his eyes widening comically as he took in the three girls. I could almost pity the guy. Almost.

"M- m'- m'la-" he swallowed, took a deep breath, then opened his eyes. When he spoke again, his voice was sprightly, as he tried to recover whatever dignity he could. "High Summoner Yuna, it is an honour. The Commander has sent word to allow you passage. Carry on." With that, he flicked a switch in his booth and the barrier swung open, allowing us to pass through. Once we made our way in, he stared after us for a few more seconds, before speaking on his comm unit for a second. That done, he shook his head and retrieved his book.

True vigilance, right there. These guards were really impressing me.

We arrived at second checkpoint, with a pair of guards flanking the passageway. When they motioned us over, Yuna remarked, "I've never seen security this tight before." Paine and Rikku both voiced their agreement. When we reached the guards, it became apparent that they had a heavy-duty metal container set on a table in front of them. The one of the left spoke first.

"All visitors must remove all items that may be used as a weapon must before they are granted further passage," he stated, eyeing up the menacing sword at Paine's side. His companion was clearly taking in Yuna's pistols and Rikku's knives. I got off without a glance, having yet to recover my sword. I'd need to ask the others about that.

"No exceptions," finished the guard on the right, using an identical monotone to his partner. I was tempted to ask if that was how they only spoke, but held off out of sheer exasperation with the difficulties we had had with the guards thus far.

The girls exchanged annoyed looks before removing their weapons and placing them in the container. The guards' brows furrowed in tandem as they saw the extent of the weaponry, in particular the number of Grenades and other perishables that Rikku was carrying around in her deceptively large belt. I had always wondered if it was somehow enchanted, and she answered that question for me by remarking to the guards, "Al Bhed enhancements, nothing special boys." She gave them a quick wink, which probably had the opposite of a calming effect on the two bored men, before turning and continuing down the corridor. The rest of us made to follow. We got as far as Buddy and Shinra before being stopped again.

"Halt!" exclaimed the guard on the right, pointing at the carry-case held between the two Al Bhed. "Pass that here, we have to ensure there is nothing dangerous contained within."

"Really, that won't be necessary," said an exasperated yet no less energetic Shinra. "This is simply for carrying around my delicate scientific equipment!"

The guard raised an eyebrow at that, muttering under his breath about pesky kids and the trouble they cause. He looked to Buddy next, apparently assuming him to be Shinra's guardian. "Sir, you must relinquish this case to us to we can examine its contents. No exceptions." He appeared to be quite serious, so Buddy looked to Shinra, who merely shook his head resignedly, before the two of them placed the case on the guards' table.

Before they could open it, a man in an ornate version of the standard guard uniform burst into the room flanked by two Captains. His uniform was a deep blue, with similar designs to the robes worn by the Yevon monks. On his shoulders sat ornate gold epaulettes, complete with tassels. Strapped to his hip was a scabbard-less, gleaming and worryingly sharp-looking rapier. It looked so sharp that I guessed if he were to turn too fast he might cut someone's knees apart. On his head was a silver helmet, a red feather plume extending up from it and coming to rest on the back on his neck.

All in all, it was an intimidating get-up, especially considering the bulk and scars of the man. The worst of them appeared to run from the centre of his hairline, all the way down his nose before darting across to his left ear, giving the impression that he was lucky to still have that portion of his far intact.

Like I said, intimidating. Far more so than that Captain could ever be.

"My lady Yuna, it is an honour that you would grace us with your presence. I am Commander Ganst, and I will escort you and your companions to the Praetor." His voice was a deep and gravely baritone, entirely appropriate considering his appearance. Anything else and I'm sure he would raise eyebrows every time he spoke. "There will be no need for you to hand over your weapons, the Praetor trusts your discretion," as he said this, he motioned to the guards, who instantly began handing back over our weapons to a chorus of 'tut-tut's from Rikku and Paine. Yuna simply smiled and thanked him.

We followed him through the passageway about another dozen paces, before he took us through a side passageway which slid open at the touch of his palm. "Magical identity recognition system," he explained at our questioning looks, "it's completely infallible." Paine snorted at that, and he sent her an annoyed look before continuing through.

The passageway lead to a wide elevator, which began to rise as soon as we were all aboard. "This elevator is set aside solely for this purpose; ferrying his personal visitors from the public entrance as rapidly as possible."

"Then why did we have to go through all that security?" questioned Paine, giving him a probing and exasperated look. He gulped slightly.

"Communications breakdown. I only received word of your arrival when you cleared the guard at the entrance booth. You have my apologies." Paine nodded at that, while Yuna tried to reassure him. The rest of us simply rolled our eyes.

The elevator ground to halt, and we all proceeded through the next door, which once again opened when touched by the Commander. He lead us through the passage, and into an ornate entrance hall. Once through the doorway, he stepped to the side, stood to attention and saluted.

The reason for his salute was clear. Praetor Baralai awaited us, stood in the middle of the marble floor. A staircase lead up either wall, onto an impressive balcony. Doors lead off either side of the room on both floors, and there was a golden archway directly across from the way we had come. The hall was of unrivalled splendour, perfect for hosting parties with the clean-cut social elite of Spira.

The Praetor, however, looked in no condition to host one of these parties. He looked just as tired as I felt, a weary slump to his shoulders and a worried glint in his eyes. He approached us hastily, yet it was clear that he had very little energy for it.

"My lady Yuna, thank you for coming so quickly. My apologies for your... issues, shall we say, in arriving." He walked straight up to Yuna, taking he hands in his gratefully. He stepped back then, taking in all of our group. When his eyes landed on me, he gasped and took a step back. His knees bent, his hands spread to his sides, and the very air around me began to crackle with suppressed power as he prepared to strike. I could see the trails of magic as they swarmed toward his outstretched palms

Needless to say, this took me by surprise.

When the girls shrieked at him to stop, he gave another start, looking at them in confusion. To my pleasant surprise, Rikku had leapt in front of me, drawing her daggers and charging a reflective shield. The commander had drawn his sword, advancing toward Rikku and myself in a misguided attempt to defend his liege. Luckily, we had Yuna to defuse the situation.

"Stop, Baralai! He is not Shuyin!" she shouted, stepping over to me. She looked reproachfully at Rikku, who stubbornly maintained he alert stance until Baralai let the spell he was charging dissipate harmlessly, at which point she lowered her arms and sagged in relief. "I know they look alike, but this is Tidus, returned to us. He's perfectly harmless." Hey, now-

"Yeah, Tidus can't even scratch a dingo!" Rikku chirped over her shoulder. I glowered at her, but, like before, she simply stuck out her tongue and sauntered over to Paine. Troublesome, that girl is. By now, Yuna had taken my hand and was pulling me over to Baralai, who had now relaxed.

"My apologies, Sir Tidus. It is truly an honour to meet such a legendary guardian," he said reverently, shaking my right hand in both of his. I withdrew uncomfortably, still wary of Yevon leaders.

"Thanks, but just call me Tidus," I said, backing away from him slightly. He read my body language and bowed his head slightly.

"I hope that we can work past the mistakes of my predecessors. I promise you, New Yevon is a new start, and one which we can all work together to maintain," he stated, before looking to the others. "As I said in Luca, I will be working in tandem with both the Youth League and the Machine Faction in order to further our society as a whole." Now addressing Rikku, Brother, Buddy and Shinra, he continued, "And of course, I will be keeping in close contact with Cid, so that we can co-ordinate our efforts with the Al Bhed effectively."

"Pfft, Pops has got no chance of getting us Al Bhed back to the way we were. Too much has changed." Though Rikku tried to sound sprightly, it was clear that this thought depressed her. Baralai politely chose to ignore it, instead changing the subject.

"Well, shall we get to the task at hand?" he asked, turning and motioning us to follow. We walked up the stair and through the doorway on the right, finding ourselves in an appropriately grand corridor, with cream walls, gold accents, and plush ruby-coloured carpeting. He took us through a relatively small doorway off the side of here, and into what appeared to be his study. And what a study it was.

He walked the ten paces it took to bring himself to his desk briskly, before rounding it and standing behind it, his fingers resting either side of a chart readout that lay in the centre of the desk. The desk itself was made of expensive dark wood, with intricate details flowing around it's legs and feet and along the edges. The surface itself, though, was plain, so as to be functional. One end of it rested by the edge of a huge wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling bookcase. An identical bookcase covered the opposite wall, a full ten paces to the side. The front wall was covered in portraits of Yevon leaders past, though Seymour, Mika and Kinoc were noticeable by their absence. The back wall consisted of a series of huge windows, of which only the one behind the desk was latched open.

Baralai pushed the chart toward us slowly, giving it a pointed look. As we looked at it, he gave an explanation. "These are the recordings we received from a seismograph we have situated underneath Bevelle. It sits within the underground of this very Palace." At that, we all snapped our gazes to him. He nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, there. These shocks are fairly small, such that it is unlikely that anyone can really notice it outside, however they are large enough so as to not be anything random. As you can no doubt see, these are _not_ natural variations. The seismograph was placed there as recently as five days ago, in an attempt to monitor the underground activity as best we could, just in case any more of those fiends came out of the farplane." He now removed a few more graph cut-outs from within his desk drawer. "Here are more readings from this afternoon and evening. The particular graph you are looking at was this morning, before it was brought to our attention."

I now considered the graph in detail. It was registering one major shock, every seven seconds, for seven repetitions, before a seven period break. This cycle repeated seven times. There was no doubting it, this was by design. Just as telling was the fact that the shock was always of the same magnitude, with no aftershocks. The readings were identical for the next pages, too.

I was about to offer forward the information given to me by the fayth, when I hesitated. Sure, it might be the shades, but it could equally be just one more secret underneath Bevelle. After all the ones we'd found so far, it doubted it would surprise anyone in the room if there were hundreds more. So I kept my silence, grasping Rikku's hand in the process. She looked up at me, surprised, but when she read my look she simply nodded in response, not revealing this secret. At least not yet.

After all, it would do no good to instil panic over what might be nothing, right?

_Right?_

_Whatever helps you sleep at night, Tidus,_ I thought to myself.

Shinra stepped up now, taking the lead in the discussions with Baralai. "These shocks are, of course, formed by an intelligent being. They are, if you don't mind me saying, likely to be a message of some sort. The repeated sets of sevens, a prime and therefore natural number of great importance, and the compliance to our timing system, clearly shows an intelligent pattern. However, I cannot construe any form of code within it. It is too simple for that."

"Maybe, whatever it is causing this, just wants to let us know it's there?" Paine joined in the discussion now, walking up to the desk for a closer look. Her brow was furrowed, as she conspired the problem. We all stood in silence, for few more moments.

"It's knocking." We all looked up in shock at the voice. After all, who would have expected _Brother _to provide an insight? But it appeared to make sense, and his own surprise at the statement appeared to wear off quickly as he grew excited at his own deduction. "When you knock, you knock more than once, nice and neatly, yes? Oui syga ouin ghulgehk ajah, un yd maycd dryd'c fryd Vydran cyet." He now looked to Rikku, and to Shinra, trying to project his thoughts effectively. {You make your knocking even, or at least that's what Father said.}

Rikku was nodding, and Shinra backed her up. "Yes, that would make sense, I suppose. Then again, I'm just a kid." He seemed to leave it at that, waiting for the discussion to move on.

"So what can we do about it?" Yuna asked the room. No-one had an immediate response to that.

Baralai stepped around the desk, leaning back against it with his head bowed. "We can do little for now. After all, we have no idea where this is coming from, or what to do about it. For now, I say we observe. If it escalates, then we can do something about it." We all nodded at that, accepting his reasoning.

"Do you have any more seismographs?" asked Shinra, a strange lilt to his voice. I was later informed that this was his 'I have an idea' voice. When Baralai nodded, his excitement appeared to grow, as his voice gathered momentum. "Then I can use them to locate the source! It's all just a simple matter of taking the readings from each, and using a mixture of the relative time delays and amplitude measured by each to triangulate the exact source of the shocks!"

"Translation?" I asked, wondering what the heck he was on about. If the expressions on the others' faces were anything to go by, they didn't have a clue either, though Baralai seemed to be nodding slightly and muttering to himself. An intelligent man, I guess.

"It's very elementary. I just use more than one seismograph, compare the readings, and use simple physics to find the source." He turned now to Baralai. "What's the estimated range of these shocks? Could they have come from anywhere outside of Bevelle?"

Baralai was shaking his head before Shinra even finished speaking. "No, no. They are localised enough that they would have to originate from somewhere within the city limits. There far too small to come from, say, the Calm Lands or Macalania."

Shinra agreed, thinking it over. "Very well then. Have your men place seismographs at each of the following locations." Here he opened the carry-case which he and Buddy had gone through so much effort to bring. When he latched it open, it became apparent that it was a portable version of the massive computer which he had installed on the Celsius. When he blinked it on, he clicked a few buttons, navigated some menus and soon had a detailed map of the entire city of Bevelle. Baralai had, by now, made his way over and was standing in slight awe at the technological prowess on display. After all, it's not everyday you find out someone's (albeit large) briefcase is actually a supercomputer.

Shinra pointed out three tactical locations - "The three most direct, clear lines of sight from the Palace, you see" - to Baralai, who noted down their co-ordinates quickly. While Shinra continued on, explaining how he would have to take into account the different soil materials and their relevant densities into his calculations - "All affects how quickly sound travels, of course" - Baralai made the call to his seismologists.

Minutes later, the excitement was over and we were all wondering what else could be done. At Paine's suggestion, Shinra handed over a number of discrete commspheres, which could be stuck to the walls of the corridors near Vegnagun's chamber in order to observe any further possible movements. After all, as Baralai explained, the patrol route was fairly sparse in the underground, as their forces were needed elsewhere at the moment. When Yuna asked how on earth Shinra would be able to observe all of them, all the time, Shinra responded condescendingly, "Well _of course_ they're motion-activated. We're not in the dark ages here. Besides, I've given the Praetor a monitor, so he can see the same things I can." The rest of us simply let him get on with it.

With that, we all decided to call it a night. Baralai said he'd have the commspheres up and running by morning, and that the seismographs were already on their way to their destinations. He also gave us the full use of an automated transport, saving us from having to hike through Bevelle to reach the Palace from now on. He merely asked that we leave it with the guards at the Macalania outpost. He didn't understand why we laughed at that.

I don't _think_ he heard the muttered "Beer-scooter," from Paine.

There was precious little conversation on the way back. We all digested what we had found out, and my anticipation and worry over the results grew. As I tucked into the extra bed set up in the cabin that night, I hoped against hope that it would just be another one of those blasted Yevon machina. At least we can deal with those things.

I didn't want to consider the other possibility.


	14. Chapter 11: Anxiety

_A/N: Hitting the ground running is a new feeling... I started writing this as soon as Chapter 10 was finished._

_Pretty soon, there's going to be some major story developments coming along. Sit tight._

_This is the first time I've actually bothered to proofread a chapter before posting. Therefore, I am confident there are no major or even minor errors... but I'm usually mistaken about that, so we'll see._

_Disclaimer: I do not own FFX or X-2._

* * *

_Mistake_

_Chapter 11: Anxiety_

I jolted awake, my eyes snapping open. I instantly regretted it, of course, my retina protesting at the intrusion. I quickly shut them again, taking stock of my situation.

I had awoken to the sound of the cabin door slamming shut, if my guess was correct. I forced my eyes open again, slowly this time, and saw that the other three beds were empty. I was the last to awaken.

The previous evening – or dawn, rather, as the sun had begun creeping up - we had carried a camp bed from the onboard storage up to the cabin sleeping area, so that I could have somewhere to rest that was more comfortable and less likely to give me a trapped nerve than the sofas downstairs. As soon as it was brought out and the bedding was more or less in place, we had all collapsed into our respective beds. And, if the height of the sun blaring through the skylights was anything to go by, I had been asleep for quite some time.

Then again, I probably needed it. I don't think I can use 'newly resurrected' as an excuse for a lie-in again, after this.

I dragged myself – literally – out of bed, barely getting my legs down in time to stop me falling flat on my face. It felt like I hadn't slept at all, if my current energy levels were anything to go by. I stumbled down the stairs, somehow managing to avoid breaking my neck in the process. Hooray for small miracles.

I began to head for the bar, only to notice that there was no-one there. I croaked out a greeting in case there was anyone in the room behind the bar, but there was no response. Suspecting I had missed breakfast – and maybe lunch, too – I continued toward the lift, my stomach protesting at the notion of waiting for food. That meal on Besaid felt so long ago.

Reaching the lift, I leant against the railing, studying the control panel. I probably should have asked how to work it last night, but I didn't expect to be making my first trip in it today by myself. Luckily, it was a fairly simple system, so I touched the tab marked 'Bridge' and set off.

Half a minute later I was dazedly wandering onto the bridge, rubbing the sleep from my eye with my fist. When I reached the balcony, I could see that all the others were wide awake, working away; or, at least, they were giving the appearance of being busy. I was quickly noticed by Yuna, and I walked over to her.

"Sleep well?" I asked her, taking in the slight bags under her eyes. Stupid question, I suppose, for it was obvious that she would have kept herself up all night worrying, as was her nature, but it was polite to ask. She nodded, giving me a thankful smile as she read my intentions correctly.

"Yes, thank you. I'm impressed you were able to wake up before midday, Rikku thought you might have gone into hibernation." She laughed at my indignation, the humour making her appear far more well rested than when I had first seen her.

We spent the next quarter of an hour chatting away to each other companionably. It was a relief, to finally get the chance to talk to her without her pressing me. It helped, of course, that I had no character role to act out for the others this time, either. Now, I could simply relax and talk, as could she.

Eventually Rikku and Paine joined us, and, as my stomach rumbled loudly to their collective amusement, it was decided that we would get some lunch. When we arrived in the cabin, my ire rose once more when I saw a Hypello casually cleaning glasses behind the bar. It being not even half an hour after I had last been here, I wondered aloud as to why he hadn't been there before.

"Even Barkeep has to rest, Tidus," said Yuna, rolling her eyes at my apparent short-sightedness. With that, we placed our orders for lunch – a cheese with Gyashl and Mimmett salad sandwich for me – and sat down on the surprisingly comfortable benches.

Our idle conversation from the bridge continued, with them continuing to fill me in on some of the finer details and anecdotes from the past two years. They explored some of Paine's history – though never in great detail, making me wonder if there was a painful story there -, then what Yuna got up to in the early months of the eternal calm, before it was Rikku's turn.

"So Rikku, what tale of depravity, debauchery, and all-round lunacy do you have to regale us with?" I teased her, causing her to giggle at me before reaching over to cuff me on the back of my head. My exaggerated response, complete with knock-out collapse and simulated blood splatter, only served to amuse her more, as Yuna joined in the ribbing.

"Yeah Rikku, tell us about all those wild parties you spent two years going to. And that string of boyfriends you had, I've always wanted to know about them!" Yuna teased, grinning ear-to-ear and relishing the chance to get back at her cousin for what I was sure was a great deal of ribbing directed at herself. "How many men was it? Ten? Fifteen? If you were a guy, I'd call you Casanova!"

By now, Rikku had gone both red in the face and very quiet, her elbows on her knees, hands shielding her eyes from view. When I noticed, my laughter stopped instantly. It was clear that a raw nerve had been hit, and I had many a hunch as to which one that might be. Yuna and Paine had noticed moments after, too, and were now watching with some trepidation as I gently pried her hands away. When I saw the tears, instinct, honed from the many times I had comforted her in the past, kicked in and I wrapped her up in a hug.

She latched onto me instantly, clearly drawing on our past hugs herself as she settled herself cross my lap, face buried in my shirt. Our position was so similar to the day before, yet so different.

The irony of me being the one to comfort her when it was my error which had created this emotional scar did not escape my notice.

"Oh, Rikku, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to- oh, bother," Yuna apologised profusely, her own eyes beginning to water as she panicked. Before she could continue, or Rikku could respond, we heard Buddy over the intercom.

"Yuna, Kimahri's on the commsphere, he says it's important." Yuna looked at myself and Rikku, clearly torn. I simply waved her off, with what I hoped was a reassuring smile. She nodded, apologised again, and left.

I made gentle shushing noises into Rikku's ear, rocking her back and forth slowly. She chuckled slightly in response, poking me in the ribs. I yelped, loosening my hold a little, allowing her to raise her head. I could see that she had stopped crying at least. "Thanks, Tidus," she sniffed, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands. I offered her my shirt, making her giggle and use it as a tissue. Crisis averted, she stood up now, clearly intending on going somewhere else. When I made to stand with her, still rather worried about her reaction, she put her hands on my shoulders and kept me seated.

"Don't worry, I'm just going to get some fresh air," she said, and, when I opened my mouth to suggest I go with her, she headed me off with a look before giving me a sweet kiss on the forehead. I closed my eyes at the sensation, moulding into her tender touch like I had never left it. One of her hands snaked into my hair, but it was gone almost immediately, to my consternation. When I reopened my eyes, her back was turned and she was walking for the door. I made no move to follow this time.

This left me alone with Paine. She sat back in her seat, appearing relaxed to the casual observer, yet I could see that she had questions to ask, and answers to obtain. However, she merely continued to sit, watching me. I opened my mouth to get her underway when Barkeep materialised next to me carrying our lunches.

Suitably distracted by my now aching stomach, I tucked in with vigour, polishing off my sandwich in no time. When I began eyeing up the departed girls' orders, Paine simply snickered and pushed the nearest plate closer toward me. I needed no further encouragement as I wiped both of their plates clean.

Unsurprisingly, the expected energy boost was not there as my body began the task of digesting this feast. I promptly nodded off on the sofa, to yet more snickers from Paine. I hadn't the will to glare at her.

When I awoke next, it was clear that my nap had been rather short, since Barkeep had yet to collect the sandwich plates. I sat up, stretching and yawning, feeling a whole lot better. Waving my thanks to Barkeep, I departed for the bridge.

Upon arrival, I looked for Rikku, wondering if she had recovered; however, although I passed Paine on the way from the lift – ignoring her continued chuckles at my expense – she was nowhere to be found on the bridge itself. However, I did see Yuna, whose demeanour could be described as nothing other than anxious.

I walked over to her, stepping up beside her as she watched the world go by out the windows. From this vantage point on the bridge, you could make out many of the taller buildings of Bevelle, with the Palace in full view. It truly is a staggeringly large structure, particularly in comparison to the architecture through the rest of Spira. I looked to Yuna now, as she stood, brow furrowed and hands clasped behind her back. Before I could ask her what was wrong, she offered forth her explanation.

"Kimahri says he felt the same tremors Baralai did. They were tiny, not on the same level as the Bevelle tremors, but he could feel them. At least, they were tiny where he was," she began, he expression unchanged. She turned to me now, as if hoping that I could divine some reason where she was clearly floundering. "And he says that, what with the tremors starting at the same time as that fissure opened up and the fiends going crazy-"

"The fiends?" I interrupted her spiel, suddenly confused. "What do they have to do with anything?"

"Kimahri says they're running rampant, like they're... fleeing from something, or battling each other for dominance of their safe havens." Now she was clearly confused, and I wondered if Kimahri had been as brief as he always used to be. No doubt it would be particularly frustrating in this situation. "For example, one of his scouts reported finding a mass of piranha corpses on the shores of the old underground lakes, and that the other fiends were devouring each other before his eyes."

Now this was just getting more and more confusing... and more and more ominous.

"Does he have any idea as to the cause of this?" I asked her, praying that there was a rational explanation other than the awful prediction which I could offer. When she shook her head, I let out a defeated breath and hoped that there would be an explanation offered in short order.

"Why can't we just have peace?" She said it so quietly, I briefly wondered if it was my imagination. When I saw the tears forming in her eyes, however, I knew I hadn't dreamt it up. _Hugmobile 3000, at your service_, I thought to myself wryly, as for the second time in a hour I supported a crying girl. Yuna wrapped her arms tightly around me, though in a far different manner to how I was used to from Rikku. When Rikku hugged me, it was like she feared that I would disappear if only she loosened her grip a little. With Yuna, it was a far more confident grip, strong yet lacking any desperation, as if she had all the time in the world.

A good hugger, that girl. _Woman_, I corrected myself, her curves very much evident in this setting.

What? I'm a guy, of course I noticed.

After she had calmed down, she released me with a quick word of thanks, to which I responded, "Don't mention it." As she stepped back, she appeared to be in a far better mood, with a half-smile contrasting against her slightly-red cheeks and eyes.

"Now I just have to get a hug from Paine and I've got the set," I joked, prompting a full blown smile and roll of the eyes.

That's better.

"It wouldn't be the Spira we know if we had peace now, would it?" I asked her, a slightly bitter taste in my mouth. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I love the place, but there must be something fundamentally wrong with it for it to be like this all the time, right?"

"The spiral of death goes on," she mumbled, head bowed once more. With that, she turned around and walked up to Shinra, engaging him in a debate about the behaviour of the fiends.

I looked up at Brother, who seemed to be rather worried. He always wears his heart on his sleeve; heck, he shouts his heart from the rooftops! As a result, he was an easy read most of the time.

He was leaning forward in his pilot's seat, elbows on his knees and chin resting on his balled fists. His thoughtful expression, with one finger extending from his balled fist to scratch his chin, was so reminiscent of Rikku that I was momentarily shocked; after all, the were chalk and cheese a lot of the time. Then again, despite their many agreements – the highlight reel of which I had been given by Yuna and Paine earlier in the day – they were siblings at the end of the day, and their personalities were far more similar than they liked to think. However, there were some fundamental differences, the chief of which was on display now.

Brother never hid his emotions; they drove him, they were the source of his strength, and he never tried to override them. It was obvious simply by looking at him, with his exuberance and tattoos and Mohawk showing his impulsiveness and passion. Rikku, on the other hand, often hid hers. Though an emotional person, she would rather hide any thoughts and feelings which may distract her team from achieving its' goal behind a façade than leave them on display where they could cause worry and fracture.

After all, she had tucked away and bottled up those emotions which she unleashed on me in Besaid since that night in Macalania. I had no idea how she managed it, having spent nearly all her time with Yuna these past few months and for the final weeks of the pilgrimage.

She's truly dedicated to her cousin. I can respect that.

However, now was the time to get it all into the open. We had delayed it long enough, and the tension, the anxiety, was killing me. I had to hope that she'd at least listen to what I had to say, and maybe just _maybe_, would reciprocate.

Frankly, I don't know what I'd do if she told me to take a walk. I'd spent the last two years thinking this through, and I could see only one option. If it failed, then I guess I'd just have to start over again.

I couldn't go to Yuna. After humouring her for so long, and spending so much time convincing myself that I didn't love her, or even have anything more than platonic feelings for her, I don't think I could ever make a relationship work with her. Besides, the pressure would be absolutely massive, from all corners of the gossiping, celebrity-watching denizens of Spira. She had become the most famous citizen of Spira, and they would want to know everything about her love life. I don't know what reports they may have heard about me in the past, and, quite frankly, I'm not sure I ever wanted to know. All I had been told so far was that I was pretty famous, and that much was obvious anyway from the reaction of the Besaid villagers.

I wonder if word had travelled from Besaid yet? Who am I kidding, of course it had. The news networks would probably be scrambling to be the first to interview me, too.

Good thing Baralai gave us that transport.

"Hey Brother, do you know where Rikku went?" I asked him, sidling closer. When he didn't respond, I switched to his native tongue, not clear on the extent of his Spiran. "Brother, ryja oui caah Rikku?" Still no response. I repeated this again, louder, yet he just sat there, staring into space. {Brother, have you seen Rikku?}

"He's lost in his own world," said a voice from my left. Surprised, I turned to see Buddy, seated in his module and watching Brother and myself with an amused half-smile on his face. "He won't come out of it until he says so."

"Heh, fair enough," I responded, contemplating all the mischief I could get up to with Brother as oblivious as he was. However, I had more important things to attend to. "So, have you seen her, Buddy?"

"Nah, sorry. I think Paine went to go look for her though." He peered at me silently for a second, contemplating. I must have passed muster, as he continued. "She has a particular fondness for the engine room." With that, he turned back to his console, busying himself with... whatever it is he does with that thing.

I thanked him quietly, turning back to the lift. I distractedly heard Buddy remark that his scanners had picked up a number of fiends stalking the airship, as he used the ship's auto-pilot to go into a low hover without Brother's input. A short ride later, and I was stepping off the lift into the engine room.

The engine room was a sight to behold. Huge pistons oscillated back and forth on both sides of the narrow corridor, creating a rather loud drone. The Celsius was simply hovering in the air so the pitch of the engine remained constant, a low and strangely calming hum.

As I stepped further toward the room, I could see to the back of the room. Standing there talking were Rikku and Paine, but they had set themselves within the niches at the rear such that the entrance to the room was not visible to them. As they appeared not to have noticed my entrance, I assumed that the engine noise had drowned out the sound of the lift.

I stepped into the main room, moving to the side of the balcony and onto the first step. As I descended, their voices came into focus.

"You can't ignore me forever, Rikku," I heard Paine say, as she stepped up closer to Rikku, who had by now sat in the niche she had found at the back of the room. I stood behind a piston on the opposite side, choosing not to announce my presence yet in my curiosity over what they could be talking about.

"I like to think I know you well by now, and I can tell something's bothering you," she continued pressing, as Rikku simply sat there, staring past Paine at the opposite wall. "And since you're not going to Yuna about it, as you always do, I can only assume it has something to do with her." At this, Rikku's eyes snapped up quickly to Paine, before she tried to hide it, forcing herself to remain staring at the wall. Paine noticed it however, and made the correct deduction. "So it does have something to do with Yuna, then. Now, I could make the obvious leap of faith and say what she said earlier is hat has you down, but we both know you've been out of sorts since before then and that I wouldn't be badgering you like this if it was just that. So, let's see..."

She trained off now, theatrically pacing back and forth and pretending to consider the problem. I had never seen her so animated, so I assumed she let her guard down more when in the sole company of Rikku or Yuna. She pretended to have a sudden realisation, slapping herself on the forehead in mock-indignation. "Of course, your sulking started yesterday, soon as we got to Besaid. So I assume this has something to do with Tidus, right?"

Upon hearing my name, I flinched and my stomach gave a little lurch. I knew I should let them know I was there, and confront her myself, but my curiosity continued to get the better of me as I eavesdropped. It was like watching a train crash; you couldn't take your eyes off it, or force yourself to stop it happening.

Rikku had had a similar outward response to me, her cheek twitching and her head bowing further. Paine had a triumphant look in her eyes as she hit the proverbial nail on the head. She now knelt in front of Rikku, her voice becoming more gentle as she tried to probe the information into the open. "Rikku, I know it's hard, but once you tell somebody that burden can be shared, and you'll feel better."

Rikku sniffed, opening and closing her mouth a few times, a few syllables escaping as she tried to form her thoughts into a sentence. "I... he..."

When she trailed off completely and closed her eyes, Paine took a wild stab in the dark. "He hasn't... forced himself on you, has he?"

Rikku eyes flew open, letting a gasp out as she stared at Paine, gob-smacked. I felt a little insulted that she would insinuate that I would do such a thing at all, let alone to Rikku.

Luckily for me, Rikku came to my defence immediately. "No, no, of course not. He'd never do anything like that. I mean, no matter what happens I know he's the best friend I've ever had." At that, a got a bit of a goofy grin on my face, along with the usual flutters whenever she jumped to my aid. It's her way of saying she cared, I guess. "No, it's just that... well..." she screwed her eyes closed and let out a growl in frustration. Finally, she relaxed back against the wall and motioned Paine to sit in the niche opposite. Paine, her work seemingly complete, obeyed.

"Tidus and I... we were close from the start," she began, a slight smile on her face. "He was this lost kid, thrust into a world so different from his own. He washed up at some ruins, which, coincidentally, was the subject of a recovery mission which I was a part of. We found him trying to fight some fiend, and I saved his ass." She giggled at that and, had I wanted my presence to be known, I would have protested the claim. However, the prospect of finally getting an honest and complete answer out of her kept me hidden behind that piston. "We took him back on the ship, I saved him again, this time from my own crew mates, and and took him under my wing a bit. I taught him some basic Al Bhed, and showed him the ropes of life on the ship. Of course, before long, Sin attacked, and he was swept off to Besaid.

"Fast-forward a fair while, and I washed up on the Moonflow, joining Yunie as a guardian. Tidus and I picked up right where we left off. We would chat away all day, and we made a decent fighting team too," she explained, cocking her head at Paine with that last statement. If there's one thing the warrior could understand, it's combat. Paine nodded, motioning her to continue.

"Anyways, by then I was not only very attached to him, but was beginning to feel... more than that." Paine raised an eyebrow now, clearly unimpressed with her explanation. "Fine, I fancied the pants off of him, alright?" Satisfied, Paine ignored Rikku's exasperated sigh. "And I could tell he felt the same. He as much as came out and said it, when we were in Guadosolam. I guess I was just a little overwhelmed by it all, otherwise I probably would have taken that opening. Of course, everyone else seemed to think he and Yunie were destined to be a pair, and I suppose I didn't want to let her down. So I held back, and trust me, when he was being all sweet on the Thunder Plains, it was hard.

"That lasted until we got to Macalania, where I thought I almost lost him again. From there, it was a downward spiral. Our playful flirting and touches stopped being so playful, and by the time we reached the temple, we were pretty much on the brink. As soon as we reached the temple, though, we had more important things to worry about, like saving our hides from Yevon." Her eyes had glazed over by now as she fell into the tale, clearly reliving it all in her mind with a shy smile beginning to grow. "After we got separated at Bikanel, I panicked. Never mind the potential romance, I thought I had lost my best friend. Luckily, they found me and we were all – apart from Yunie - reunited.

"That night... we had our first kiss. And our second, and our third... you get the point. We upped the ante the next night, moving from kissing to some topless groping. After all, such physical activities are bound to make you overheat in the desert, right? We had to do something to cure that." She winked at Paine, forcing out a laugh. Paine did not respond, seeing the façade for what it was. Rikku ignored her, continuing with the story. "You see, it was still fairly casual for both of us at that point. It was just another layer to our friendship. But that changed, for me, when we were on the Fahrenheit.

"I was pretty beat up about losing Home, as you could understand." Paine nodded, urging her on. "Tidus came to comfort me, not that I'd have expected any less from him. He'd watched out for me until then, and I didn't expect him to stop doing so overnight. And when we were on the deck, there, and he was being so sweet with me, that's when a light came on upstairs. There was no dramatic speech, no tearful union, but I had gone from loving him as a friend to falling head over heels in love, hard and fast." She stopped now, voice cracking completely and her composure departing in one fell swoop. "He was my first, that night, and I committed myself to him. Shame, then, that he saw it all as just a bit of _fun_. That he never made that switch." At the destroyed tone her voice took on when announcing this, I couldn't take it anymore. I had to disabuse her of that notion. She had it all wrong.

Have you ever felt time slow to a crawl? That's what it felt like for me, when I stepped out from behind that pillar. "Rik," I began confidently, only to shut my mouth as quickly as I had opened it as I saw the look in her eyes. It was one that would no doubt haunt me for a long time.

Her neck had to have nearly broken from the force with which she whipped her head towards me. Her jaw dropped to the floor, eyes bulging out of their sockets in surprise. But, as I stood there in silence as I tried to force words into my mouth to convince her, she drew her mouth closed and her lips set into a thin line, her eyes narrowing dangerously. If the reddening of her cheeks was any indication, and it usually was, then I had dived head-first into pole position on her shit-list. One glance at the look in her eyes and that notion was confirmed.

I gulped.

She stood up slowly, purposefully, with only the almost imperceptible shaking of her knees and hands belying the pure _fury_ that had engulfed her. Now at her full height – which, despite still being tiny, made me feel like an ant in the way of her right now – she stalked toward me without hesitation. Once in range, she struck.

_Crack._

Blinding pain spread from my left cheek, as lights and colours filled my vision. My head snapped sideways from the sheer force of the attack, and I had sudden flashbacks to her using the exact same motion with her claw weapon in the past. I would have been exceedingly grateful that she did not have that weapon on her right now – for she would no doubt have used it -, but my thought processes were rather stalled for now.

I slumped against the side of the engine room, miraculously still on my feet, and, by the time my vision had returned, she was gone and I heard the lift moving swiftly away. I blinked a few times as more dots and stars appeared in my vision, my eyes finally righting themselves moments later.

Paine now stood before me, a cold expression on her face, I winced, which, ironically, made me wince again as my thoroughly bruised cheek protested against the motion. We remained silent for a moment, before I lowered my head in surrender to her inevitable assault.

Surprisingly, to my mind, it was verbal. "You've really done it now, haven't you?" she asked; rhetorically, I assumed, for she continued without letting me reply. "You just had to kick her while she was down, right?"

"Hey, that's exactly what I _didn't_ want to do!" I protested angrily.

"And yet, that's exactly what you achieved," she responded snidely, am ugly sneer growing on her face.

Damn it all, but she had a point.

"Why does everything I touch fall to pieces?" I moaned, stepping back from her to lean against the wall once more. "I came looking for her so I could settle that score, to answer her questions, and to tell her exactly what she wanted to hear."

"That doesn't sound particularly heroic to me," she interrupted, her sneer still growing and disgust seeping into her voice. "In fact, it sounds like you were coming here to lie to her once more, lead her back down that path."

"No, I'd never do that to her. I never meant to in the first place!" I tried to stop her accusations, and it seemed to work momentarily. I pounced, trying to convince her of my position. "Dammit, I love her!" As Paine shaped to retort, I continued. "I'm in love with her, I just didn't... I never told her. She never gave me the chance."

Paine looked sceptical now, but motioned me to continue, her curiosity clearly overriding her righteous anger. "You see, I knew, for certain, that I was in love with her... well, I'm not going to lie, it was immediately after I kissed Yuna in Macalania." Paine snorted, appreciating the irony despite herself. "Yeah, I know, but it's true. I found myself wishing above all else that it was Rikku in my arms, and, like she said, that light went on upstairs. When we came back to the campsite, they all thought they knew what happened, including Rikku. From then on, she never let herself be drawn into a discussion about it with me. She just... pushed me at Yuna. To my eyes, it felt as if she wanted nothing to do with me. She didn't want to hear anything about it.

"By then, there was simply nothing more important than supporting Yuna, so I couldn't possibly spring anything on her. She was convinced we were very much in love. Don't get me wrong, she's a fantastic friend and an even better person, but she was very naïve about it all. I realised my mistake very quickly, but by then the damage had been done. She read too much into what was just meant to be a comforting kiss between good friends. I should have known better... but again, it was too late." By now, Paine seemed to have calmed down, though she was clearly still upset with me. I couldn't blame her, not really. Her loyalty was very much to the other two, and I had wronged both of them.

"So, I remained that ideal in Yuna's mind, never pushing her on, but never proving her wrong either. Rikku and I somehow remained friends; I could tell she didn't want to let that go, and, in fact, she was just as sprightly as ever on the outside. Only now, a lot of the playfulness was gone. It felt hollow. She tried, but I felt it. It hurt us both. The last thing either of us wanted was to lose our connection, whatever drama we were going through.

"I can't imagine how her feelings must have festered over the last two years, especially with Yuna still fixated on me." At Paine's raised eyebrow, I nodded. "Yeah, I saw some of that. And of course, she told me how all this -" I motioned to the engine room around us "- started. And then there was her... _enthusiastic_ welcoming. All in all, I'm surprised she hasn't hunted me down here already."

"So what are you going to do about it?" asked Paine, scorn evident in her demeanour. "Are you going to stand here and lecture me about it, or are you actually going to sort this mess out?"

A call to arms if ever I've heard one. Down, girl!

"I'm sorry, I guess I just needed to vent. I've never had anyone to talk to about all this. Kimahri knew, at least a little, thanks to those ears and that nose of his, but he's not one for talking. Thanks for listening, by the way." She nodded, an ever so slight smile finally appearing as she read my intentions. "And yeah, I'm going to find Rik now, and sort this whole thing out. I just hope she doesn't kill me for how much this is going to hurt her Yunie..." At that, I trailed off, eyes widening a little as I considered this problem. Why hadn't this occurred to me before now? I'd been so worried about Rikku that I had forgotten that the fact that Yuna would be hurt greatly by this would send Rikku ballistic.

I looked straight at Paine now, a little bit of panic forming. "Rikku will kill me. She will rip my head from my shoulders." When Paine did not appear even slightly worried on my behalf, my head slumped. "Take it like a man, right?" Though not looking at her, I knew, intuitively, that she had nodded. "Any advice?" I asked with false confidence in a last-ditch attempt to get even the slightest advantage in the coming explosion- I mean, discussion.

"Talk to her," she replied simply, appearing to give me up as a lost cause as she pointed me at the lift. I complied readily.

I couldn't help but believe I was walking to my execution.

I returned to the bridge in good time, and there she was. She bore little resemblance to how I had last seen her, her face a mask of fury. Now, she was calmly talking to what looked, if I wasn't mistaken, like that old Chocobo Knight Clasko on the commsphere. I strode over to her determinately, blinkers very much on as my vision tunnelled.

"Rik," I began when I got within earshot. However, she raised her hand, stalling me, as she continued to talk to Clasko. Not wanting to risk increasing her ire, I stood impatiently, feet tapping against the floor with my arms crossed. My attention was fixed on her unwaveringly.

When she packed up her call, I tried once more to get her attention, but she ignored me, calling Yuna and Paine over. I blinked, finally noting Paine's arrival and the fact that Yuna had been on the bridge all along. Paine now looked slightly amused at me, as she had no doubt recognised exactly what I had been unsuccessfully trying to achieve. Rikku's voice returned my attention to her once more.

"Clasko says that his chocobos have been going crazy. None of them will eat or sleep, and they're all trying desperately to break free, gnawing at their restraints. He's checked with the other residents of the Calm Lands, and none of them have seen a chocobo this past day, which is unheard of, yet there's no evidence of anything eating them. No carcasses, no chocobo eater." She said all this in a hushed, rushed tone, clearly unsettled. Yuna and Paine had identical frowns on their faces, as they considered it. On it's own, this was not particularly alarming news, but, coupled with the events under Bevelle, and the seeming battle for survival taking place on Gagazet, this could not be a coincidence, It did not bode well at all.

If my head was in a better place, I might have finally made the public reveal of the shades which were readying themselves to attack Spira. As it was, it didn't occur to me, as I simply wanted this discussion to end so that I could talk to Rikku alone.

"We need to tell Baralai," said Yuna, nodding resolutely as she voiced all our concerns. "There's no way all that's happened can be unrelated. It can't be a coincidence." She sounded ever so sad at this prospect, the peace she had thought she had achieved through the defeat of Vegnagun seemingly evaporating before her eyes. Once more, I would have pitied her, and perhaps given her the information she needed, but I _really_ wanted to talk to Rikku alone.

It seemed I would finally get that when Paine pulled Yuna away, doing me a favour and engaging her in a discussion at the head of the bridge. I turned to Rikku, who refused to meet my gaze immediately. I wouldn't back down, gently grasping her chin and turning her head to look at me. She met me head on, defiance oozing from her every pore. I ignored the sound of an incoming commsphere transmission, continuing to hold her chin in place.

"Rik, please, we need to talk," I began, speaking softly. She didn't fight it, but neither did she appear to be listening. "You've got it all wr-"

Rikku whipped herself away, stalking over to Shinra's desk where Baralai's face was visible in the commsphere transmission window. I sighed, catching up to her quickly, when the Praetor's baffled words began to register in my brain. "- just stopped. No steady drop-off, it was as if someone had flicked a switch. One minute the tremors were there, the next they were gone completely."

An equally baffled Yuna was the first to respond. "How long ago was this?"

"Not even ten minutes. We've not found any other change, none of our other sensors are picking up anything unusual."

"I've assessed the readings you sent me from the seismographs," Shinra interjected, a hint of pride mixed with worry evident in his voice. "According to my calculations, the source of these tremors is the Vegnagun chamber. Frankly, all leads point to it."

"It is as I feared, then. However, as I said, none of our other sensors are picking up anything unusual, we have picked nothing up on the commspheres near to the chamber, and our patrols report nothing out of the ordinary."

"Have your men been down there since the tremors stopped?" asked Paine, speaking up from her position to the side of the computer. We all looked to Baralai, anticipating his response.

"No, not since then. Should I hold them off until you get here?" Baralai asked, clearly expecting us to be present. Yuna acquiesced on all our behalf, and within moments Brother was lowering the Celsius back into the same clearing from the day before.

"Keep your men close at hand until we arrive. I have some equipment it would be wise for them to be carrying when they enter the chamber," recommended Shinra, as he removed some more aluminium carry-cases – smaller than the one from the day before - from a cubby-hole underneath his workstation. I tell you, that kid has way too much stuff.

Not that I'm complaining. It all seems to have it's uses, after all.

Rikku studiously – and deviously, I had to admit – avoided any unnecessary contact with me as we packed up and prepared to disembark from the Celsius. Yuna had, I was sure, noticed that something was well and truly up with the two of us, as she gave us both a number of curious looks. Paine gave no outward indication of interest, but I knew that she had to be paying attention.

Heck, if even _Brother_, of all people, had noticed that something was up with his sister – which he had, as he had cornered her briefly during the packing, only to receive a brick wall response -, then they all must have. She just didn't let me do anything about it, for I wasn't about to have this discussion in public, especially not where Yuna could hear. I'd deal with Rikku first, then, if all went well, we could break it to Yuna together, arm in arm and hand in hand.

Yeah, and my name's Grand Maester Tidus.


	15. Chapter 12: Static

_A/N: Once again, this chapter was started immediately after the conclusion of the previous chapter. However, I have been disgustingly busy since releasing the last chapter. Moving house to an entirely new area will do that._

_I'm sure a number of my inspirations for certain scenes in this chapter will be quite clear to those of you who like movies._

_Disclaimer: I do not own FFX or X-2._

* * *

_Mistake_

_Chapter 12: Static_

It was a far more efficient and direct journey into Bevelle this time. The guards at the outpost looked quite embarrassed, having not been there to greet us at dawn – to our collective amusement – and were very apologetic. Well, all except the guard who had been off his face, as he was nowhere to be seen.

With the use of the transport, we were striding into the private entrance of the Palace within ten minutes. Baralai had sent a welcoming party to greet us, and we were ferried quickly past the security checkpoints without delay. We received a few confused and, in some cases, awed looks from the guards who dotted the main entrances, but we were soon within the care of the Praetor's personal guard squad as we entered his quarters once more.

"You know, we could be making a bit more of a deal out of this. I've never entertained the same group of people in my quarters twice in such a short space of time before now," joked Baralai, stepping out to greet us as we reached his entrance hall once more. His smile appeared forced, however, and the growing bags beneath his eyes belied his lack of rest. "Shall we forego the pleasantries, and get down to business?" It was not a suggestion, but there were nods all round regardless. We followed him deeper into his quarters.

He took us to the opposite side of the entrance hall this time, and through the opposite door. This corridor was a mirror image of the other, and he lead us all the way to the end and around a corner, leading to a shorter passage. At the end of it stood a reinforced door, to which Baralai pressed the palm of his hand, causing the door to open automatically. After he stepped through, he pressed and held some kind of button on the wall and beckoned us through. After we had all passed him, he released the button and the door shut with a sharp hiss.

"We are now within the barracks of the New Yevon Guard; this area is the hub for my personal guard to be exact. Congratulations, you are the first outside of New Yevon to have access to our resources here," Baralai jested forcedly once again. This time, however, he didn't even crack a smile, instead looking at us stonily. "Follow me, and we will go to the situation room, where a number of my officers await."

We continued in silence as we passed through a number of bare metal corridors. They created a great contrast with the grandeur of the decorations in the public areas and in the Praetor's private quarters, so much so that it was easy to believe that we were in a different building entirely. There were no windows to use as reference points, either, leaving us thoroughly disoriented over our position in the Palace. The lack of way-points and landmarks within the barracks created a labyrinth for any would-be intruder, with blank corridors weaving their way around each other in a maze of junctions. We had to go back on ourselves so many times that it became apparent that this lack of a logical layout was deliberate, to disorientate invaders and provide an advantageous, defensible position for the guards.

We eventually stopped in another nondescript hallway at another touch-activated door. Baralai opened it, not needing to motion us to enter by now. As I stepped through the door behind the girls, I couldn't help but let out a slight gasp in surprise.

If the room were empty, then it would blend in perfectly with the rest of the barracks. However, it had been packed full of equipment; screens could be seen everywhere, with one wall completely dominated by a single screen displaying all kinds of information. Dozens of men and women sat at partitioned workstations or milled around, deep in discussion. In the centre of the room sat a massive table, above which a holographic projection of what I assumed was the entire known underground of Bevelle. At various points on the model were red, blue and green dots, clearly meant to act as identifiers of points of interest.

Gathered around the table were Commander Ganst – who nodded in greeting -, and a mousy-haired, wiry man dressed in a uniform far less resplendent than his Commanders' yet clearly more distinguished than a captain's uniform. With them were three guard captains, who stood a pace behind their superiors.

"Commander, Lieutenant, at ease," the Praetor commanded, a slight frown appearing when the two men saluted him. "You know that makes me uncomfortable."

"You have our apologies, Praetor. We are quite used to following protocol," responded the man identified as a Lieutenant, his back still ramrod straight. His eyes, a dull grey, seemed to be fixed at a point just over the Baralai's shoulder. Ganst, on the other hand, met the Praetor's gaze head on, a small hint of amusement in his expression.

"Understood, Praetor. I understand you still have to get used to the customs." A smile flickered onto his face, disappearing as soon as it grew. He relaxed his posture, stepping around the side of the table slightly and indicating at the projection. "Shall we proceed?"

"Yes, we shall. Gentleman, I'm sure you all know the Gullwings," Baralai began, gesturing to our group. "As you may notice, they also have a new addition. Sir Tidus is to be treated with the same respect as you would afford the rest of the Gullwings." Baralai's tone brooked no argument, and his men nodded their assent, a chorus of 'Sir's' following his pronouncement. I wondered for a moment why it might be necessary, but thought little of it as Baralai continued. "Now, I'm sure we all agree that there must be some kind of crisis brewing beneath our feet. These events cannot be circumstantial.

"But what links systematic tremors in the Bevelle underground – thanks to Shinra here, we know that they originated from within Restricted Access Chamber B-1, here," he gestured to a point on the map where a large cavern could be seen, presumably for the guards' benefit. I wondered if they had been informed of the events of the Vegnagun crisis, for he had avoided the use of the word. "Yet what could they have to do with fiends going ballistic all over Spira? Why is Zanarkand suddenly overrun with them? Why are they killing each other on Gagazet? We have no idea, and that's why we have to correct that oversight."

I could see now why Baralai had risen through the ranks to become Praetor of New Yevon. Usually, he was a very personable, affable man who would rather be doing anything but offending others. When he thought I was Shuyin, I had seen a battle-hardened side of him that spoke of a great deal of underlying strength, not only physically but mentally. Now, I was seeing the politician, the speaker and the mediator. He was creating a case for his forces, and was using it to convince them to push into the unknown with heads held high.

His stock rose enormously, in my book.

"Gentlemen, your men will descend into the underground and scout the chamber. This is not a search and destroy mission. I repeat, this is a scouting mission, not search and destroy." He peered at them intently, ensuring that his message was received. When his Lieutenant nodded stiffly, the Praetor smiled grimly back. "That said, you will be heading in with live ammunition. We have no idea what to expect, and you should be prepared for anything."

He moved up to the table now, leaning over so that he could gesture to multiple areas of the map at a time. "You will enter from the East, moving North and then West along corridors 12-N and 13-U. Our commsphere reconnaissance has reported minimal fiend activity in the area, so you should have a fairly clean run down."

"If I can take this opportunity to interrupt, Praetor," said Shinra formally, stepping forward and dragging two carry-cases with him. "I request that your men take these with them as they conduct this mission." He now bent down, opening the latches on the two cases. Inside were a dozen intricate commspheres with some kind of suction cub on their bases. "These commspheres will allow us to monitor the mission in real-time with both audio and video feeds." He now motioned to the captains. "They can simply be stuck onto your helmets or shoulders, and they are small and light enough to not get in the way."

"I think that's an excellent suggestion, Shinra. What say you, gentlemen?" Baralai looked to the two officers now, who shared a quick glance.

"Forgive me for asking, Praetor, but why should we take some kid's toy with us into a potentially hostile environment?" the Lieutenant responded, a dry chuckle escaping him as he concluded his question. The captains, who had until now remained silent, laughed openly.

Baralai was not amused. "Watch yourselves, gentlemen, for Shinra is arguably _the _authority in communications research and engineering in all of Spira." This shut the men up, as they looked to Shinra in wonder.

"I'm just a kid," responded Shinra, though he did sound rather pleased at the praise.

"And yet you never cease to impress us with your inventions," complimented Baralai, grinning down at Shinra. Shinra bowed his head, busying himself with the commspheres. "You will wear the commspheres, men. Every man on this mission will. That is an order." A second chorus of 'Sir's' followed this, far more decisively than the first.

Baralai nodded in satisfaction, moving the projection around. "Once you enter Restricted Access Chamber B-1, you will conduct a thorough search of the entire area. You will find that you will have access to a number of walkways. To move from one to another, you must return to corridor 13-U, and switch between entryways. Once the search is complete, you shall continue down corridor 13-U, before returning to headquarters via 13-N and associated pathways.

"Do you have any questions?"

"When does the operation initiate, Sir?" asked the Commander, glancing at his subordinates.

"Immediately," was Baralai's firm response. Ganst nodded, and entered into a discussion with the Lieutenant and the three Captains over logistics and particulars.

Baralai turned to us, now. "You will remain here with me for the duration, I trust?" he asked Yuna, who replied affirmatively on all our behalves. "And Shinra, you will be able to monitor the commspheres remotely?"

Shinra nodded, opening a third carry-case, within which were a collection of monitors which, when he activated them, each showed a video feed from a commsphere. He began to set them up in a line toward the front of the situation room.

Once they were all in place, he returned to the carry-case and flicked some kind of switch. A light woke up on it, and each of the monitors switched on, displaying the view provided by their associated commspheres. I must admit, I was quite impressed by it. The kid could clearly work wonders.

The Captains looked to their Lieutenant, who jerked his head in the direction of the commspheres. The Captains took this as confirmation, and went to retrieve them. With their arms full, they began to leave the situation room, pausing to attempt to salute Baralai and Yuna, only to give it up as a lost cause and nod their heads respectfully. They departed, presumably to organise with the others who would be taking part in the mission.

I turned back to the table, taking in the faces of the others present. A spectrum of emotions could be seen. Ganst and the Lieutenant were calm and collected, coolly debating to each other the best course of action for sweeping the Restricted Area. Paine appeared uninterested, simply leaning back against an empty partition behind her. Yuna, Rikku and Baralai had pulled to the other side, taking Shinra with them as they discussed how to best observe the mission. Brother was simply staring at all the machina in awe, an open look of longing on his face.

At the sound of a foot scuffing the floor, I looked over my shoulder at Buddy. He approached me slowly, contemplatively, before stopping at my right shoulder. "You know, you're not at all what I expected," he began, taking in my form from head to toe. "I mean, we'd heard all about you. If not from Yuna and Rikku, then from the press."

"What, does the real deal not live up to your expectations?" I replied, chuckling a little.

Buddy seemed to catch himself, eyes snapping to meet mine. "No, that's not it at all. The opposite, in fact," he placated, looking away. His eyes settled back on where the others were talking. "The impression we all got from what we'd been told was that you were this impulsive, confident Blitzball jock," seeing the look on my face, he once again looked to backtrack, "not that that's a bad thing. You just seem a lot more surly that than, if you don't mind me saying."

"No offence taken," I responded, a frown spreading over my forehead. "I've surprised myself, in a way. Your impression was definitely right, once upon a time. I guess I had to grow up pretty fast." I looked over at Rikku now, my eyes softening. "I've made some good decisions and some bad decisions, but at the end of the day I'm still doing the best job I can. That's all a part of growing up, right?" I turned back to Buddy, seeing his head nod slightly.

"So... you grew up?" he broached hesitantly.

"Yeah. This life, it changes people. You can't see what we see, lose what we lose and stay that naïve for long," I trailed off, before laughing. "Jeez, I sound like Auron."

Buddy joined in, though I could tell he didn't quite get the joke. After sobering up, he asked me a final question. "Do you regret it?"

"What, being here? Leaving Zanarkand? The Pilgrimage?" He nodded. "Not one bit," I assured him, once again allowing myself to look at Rikku. She caught my eyes this time, looking up from where she was speaking to Shinra. She paused, seemingly caught in two minds, before flicking her gaze away, continuing with whatever she was saying.

If Buddy noticed any of this, he didn't comment on it.

The others now convened around the commsphere monitors, and we made to join them. Noticing Rikku hanging back from the rest slightly, I approached her quickly. She steadfastly ignored my approach, keeping her gaze rooted to a spot on the far wall. Reaching her side - and ignoring the commentary from one of the Captains over the commspheres as the mission got under way - I tried to cup her far cheek, and to make her at least look at me. She resisted, batting my hand away. I sighed, settling for putting a hand on her nearside arm. "Look, we need to to talk." I saw her eyes shift slightly, a clear sign she was listening. "Not now, but we do. It's really eating at me, and I can tell it's the same for you." She gave the tiniest nod, sending a wave of relief through me. At least she would let me talk. "Thank you," I finished softly, moving my hand down to give hers a squeeze.

The feeling of her hand giving an almost unnoticeable one in response was almost enough for me to drag her off there and then, and damn the rest, but I resisted for her sake. It was clear she didn't want us to hash this out in front of any of the others, and I would respect that. I let go of her hand, making my way into the crowd around the monitors. Rikku followed, remaining at my side.

We had work to do.

"We are now entering corridor 12-N. Hold," came the slightly distorted voice of one of the Captains. His was one of the two central monitors of the twelve, and I assumed that the other was the second Captain. If the video feed was anything to go by, then I assumed that the remainder of the dozen men in the scouting party were Privates.

The men lined up behind their Captain as he slowly poked his head around the sharp angle of a t-junction in the corridor. Seeing nothing up ahead, he motioned to his men, three of whom sprung into action from behind him and went into a well-practised motion. The first guard leapt to the far side of the junction where he crouched at the corner, keeping most of his body in cover as he aimed the sights of his rifle down the corridor. The second guard swivelled around the corner, dropping to one knee and also aiming down the corridor, only to stand up once more when the third guard joined him, the two of them moving systematically down the corridor. They aimed their rifles at every nook and cranny, utilising the torches that they both carried in their steadying hand, aimed parallel to the muzzle of their rifle.

The captain motioned again, and another pair of guards repeated this process. Once the four of them had reached the end of the corridor, they gave him some kind of hand signal. It must have been the 'all clear', as the captain and the rest of the men casually made their way to join them.

The same process was repeated as they entered the next corridor, 13-U, and they continued uninterrupted and undisturbed by fiends as they gathered around a locked blast door. The door took up a great deal of the height of the wall, and appeared perfectly circular. Its edges were illuminated in glowing red light, seemingly emitted from strips of luminescent material. This was the entrance to Vegnagun's chamber.

I took a deep breath as the second Captain, who had until this point deferred to the tactical expertise of his colleague, keyed in a code into a panel inset to the side of the door. Upon typing in the 5-digit code, he stepped back as the panel gave a soft chime and the lights around the edge of the door turned a soft green. There was the deafening hissing sound of compressed air being released, as the mighty door swung open. As soon as it began to open, a great cloud of smoke billowed out, engulfing the guards. As they choked and spluttered, both captains attempted to restore order to their men, and get them behind cover. Eventually the Privates complied, leaving the group split into two, a half-dozen on either side of the door.

The two captains drew out their torches, calling for their men to do the same. In perfect synchronisation the two groups formed a two-tiered firing squad, a half-dozen crouched low in front and a half-dozen standing tall behind. They all had their weapons ready, torches held firm and parallel to the muzzles. However, the smoke was so thick that it was impossible to distinguish anything beyond the door.

The smoke billowed, the torchlight casting eerie shapes through it. Many a time the smoke would form something that would catch the eye of the one of the men, and they would snap the weapon and torch toward it, only to realise their mistake.

The men were thoroughly spooked.

"You reading this, Lieutenant? Commander?" asked the second Captain, his voice low as he talked only to the audio feed.

At Shinra's nod, Ganst approached the monitor from which the voice had originated and pressed a large button in the corner. When a small icon appeared on the screen, he assumed the feed was open. "Affirmative, Captain Rogli. We are unaware of the origin of the smoke. Proceed with caution." He pressed the audio button once again, and stepped back from the monitor. Upon hearing confirmation from Rogli, the Commander allowed himself a small smile in Shinra's direction. The little genius appeared rather proud of his invention's first field trial.

"Let's see if we can clear some of this smoke. Private Fel, frag," commanded the other Captain, motioning to the Private crouched directly in front of him. The man, Fel, nodded in assent, and fumbled with something around his waist for a moment before standing up with a grenade in hand.

"Fire in the hole!" he shouted, and the guards retreated behind the cover offered on either side of the door as he tossed the grenade through the door and straight onto the walkway beyond. Only the two Captains remained at all out of cover, as they shined their torches after the grenade.

A deafening explosion was heard through each of the monitors as a concussive wave exploded from the grenade. The shockwave forced the back smoke within its' blast radius, creating a hemispherical clear zone. The Captains, who had steadfastly ignored the explosion and kept their eyes dead ahead, could see that the path ahead was clear. They assembled their men once more, and the guards grouped up in threes before entering through the doorway at staggered intervals.

The first group featured Captain Rogli, and he gave a running commentary as he and two Privates explored the chamber. "Entering Restricted Access Chamber B-1 now. Ten yards in, no sign of any activity." He stopped, aiming his torch in every direction, before the video feed showed him bobbing his head in confirmation. "This place appears empty."

They continued now, steeping out onto the raised walkway. The Captain told his men to watch their steps, and make sure not to fall off the walkway. The Privates attempted to view the open space of the chamber, but the smoke was so thick that they could not see more than five yards into the space around them.

The men were still on edge.

Suddenly, a the distinctive crack of a gunshot and a blinding muzzle flash from one of the screens drew everyone's attention. The Private who had fired was in the third group, which had just now entered onto the raised walkway. The second Captain, who was also in this group, had aimed his gun and torch in the same direction to that which the Private had fired.

"Where's the target, Private?" asked the Captain, his head returning to the Private when he could not see anything. The monitor clearly showed the sweaty, strained face of the Private, not two yards away.

The Private continued to stare into the smoke for a few moments, before finally blinking and letting an embarrassed flush tinge his cheeks red. "Sorry, Captain Moj, sir. I thought I saw something."

"Did I tell you this was a shoot first operation, Private?" asked Moj, his voice condescending. The Private dropped his head, mumbling out an apology.

"Captain Moj is right, gentlemen. This is a scouting mission, not search and destroy," Captain Rogli announced, attempting to calm his men, It appeared to work, as the agitated expressions on the faces of the men eased slightly.

The lead group continued down to the end of the walkway, before finally standing stationary on the rounded end. They shined their torches into the smoke, but couldn't make out any distinctive movement. It was simply too thick.

I turned to Rikku next to me, and Buddy next to her. "Any idea what might be causing that smoke?"

Rikku kept her eyes fixed on the screen, but answered readily. "It's probably just a ruptured cooling or exhaust line. Those things will fill a room pretty fast, since the gas inside is all compressed." I nodded my head, accepting her explanation.

"Either that, or there was a fire. With nowhere else to go, the smoke would simply hang in the air," offered Buddy, looking at me around Rikku. Again, I nodded in acceptance.

_A perfectly rational explanation. Maybe there's nothing down here._

Yeah, no way in hell am I going to convince myself of that anytime soon.

"Okay, we can't see anything here," announced Rogli, turning back toward the door. "Fall back to 13-U, and let's take a look in the next entrance."

The men walked calmly back to the corridor, rifles lowered but with the safeties off. Upon leaving the chamber, Moj closed the door behind them, having to key in a second code. The door swung back into place, the lights lining it's edge turning red once more.

The smoke that had spilled out of the chamber now filled the corridor, reducing the visibility greatly. It was not as bad as the chamber itself, but the guards could see no more than ten yards in front of them. However, as they cautiously made their way down the corridor, a second distinctive red glow could be seen.

They reached the second door without incident. Once again, Moj keyed in the access code and the door swung free. To the great irritation of the guards and ourselves, smoke billowed out in waves from this door just as forcefully and densely as it had the previous one.

The men split up into the same groups as they had previously, and went through the same procedure. This time, they refrained from throwing a grenade, more confident this time that the way was clear.

"We're going to need some extractors down here. The smoke is just too much," Captain Rogli said into his commsphere, looking around at his surroundings to the best of his ability. "Because, quite frankly, I can't see shit." That drew a slight chuckle from a number of us, including some of the Privates, but the Lieutenant remained stony.

"Focus on the task at hand, Captain," he chided, gaining an immediate apology from the Captain in question. However, I could have sworn I saw him rolling his eyes through the video feed of one of the Privates in his leading group.

For the second time, the lead group reached the end of the platform without incident. Again, they searched through the darkness as best they could. They then exchanged places with the second group, in the belief that perhaps they were simply missing something and the others might be able to spot what they couldn't. Needless to say, the second group failed to find anything out of place too.

"Are you sure of your triangulation calculations, Shinra?" enquired the Commander, turning away from the screens as the guards withdrew to the corridor once more.

"Absolutely. I triple checked them, and they always pointed to this exact location," Shinra replied, a stubborn tone to his voice. I made a mental note to never verbally doubt his maths.

The guards had all returned to the corridor by now, and, as one, moved to the end of it. There, the corridor turned through a right angle, leading to a flight of stairs, a landing, and a second flight of stairs. This route took them to the upper level of the corridor.

Upon reaching the upper level, the guards were annoyed to find that the smoke had – being less dense than air - risen from the lower level. The result of this was that their vision down the corridor was still obscured.

They continued slowly and carefully, alert to the slightest movement. Within a minute, they had once more reached a blast door. When Moj had successfully entered the pass-code and the door opened once more, an even greater volume of smoke burst through the doorway. This time, even the Captains failed to contain their coughs and splutters, as they took the full brunt of it.

"This is -" _cough_ "- getting ridiculous," complained Rogli, forcing himself up despite his the protests from his lungs. He once more assembled the same groups, ordering them to keep tighter together this time due to the even lower visibility.

All the men had their torches out and their eyes glued to their surroundings as they walked through the doorway. The smoke was still forcing it's way out, trying to diffuse and regulate the pressure, creating a modest wind that ruffled the uniforms of the men. They pressed on, making their way into the main chamber.

The first sign that something might be wrong was the first man in the lead group, an unnamed Private, tripping slightly as he looked over the edge of the platform. After steadying himself, he looked to the ground, wondering what had tripped him.

A long scratch ran nearly the entire width of the platform, a full inch thick. The edges of the scar had raised as the metal of the walkway had been forced outwards, causing the guards to trip.

"Woah, check it out Captain," the Private said, drawing everyone's attention to his monitor and bringing the Captain closer.

Rogli observed the deep cut for a second before running his fingers along it. He then drew his fingers to his lips, giving them a taste. Apparently finding nothing peculiar about it, he shrugged, turning to the rest of his men. "On guard, gentlemen. Have your weapons ready."

Now far more anxious, we watched helplessly as the guards continued deeper into the chamber. The guards were very much on edge, their heads going this way and that as they tried to make out any hostiles. However, the smoke was simply too thick to discern anything further than a couple of yards away. It was an impossible task.

After what felt like an eternity, yet was most likely only thirty seconds, the lead guard group reached the end of the walkway. They once more searched as best they could, even resorting to aiming all three of their torches into the same spot to try to penetrate deeper through the smoke.

The second sign that something was wrong was when the door slammed shut of it's own accord.

The sound of the massive steel door slamming closed resonated through the entire chamber, shaking the walkway the men stood on. They all jolted and turned to look back at it in surprise. The only ambient noise in the chamber before had been the slight whistling of the air as it rushed through the door. Now, there was only silence. The door had sealed shut, despite still being ringed in green luminescence.

"Commander, is there a timer on that door or something?" asked Captain Moj, his voice cracking slightly as he fought himself to remain calm.

Ganst approached the monitors once more. "Negative, Captain. That door stays open for as long as you tell it to." He paused, considering for a moment. "And it's too heavy to be blown shut."

"Copy that," a now clearly shaking Moj replied. He turned to the three in the group nearest to the door. "Privates, investigate. We'll be five paces behind you." He received some tentative nods from the men. "Keep your men on that end, Captain. Continue searching," he called, turning to where he knew Rogli to be. Rogli called back in the affirmative, moving the second group closer to himself so that they almost joined him on the end of the platform.

The Commander turned to a man who had, until now, simply remained at his workstation. "Technician, is there any way to remotely override that door?"

"Negative, Commander, sir. It was built specifically to only be accessible from the terminals on either side of the door," the technician responded, appearing completely baffled by the turn of events.

Ganst growled in frustration, turning back to the monitors. "Captains, the objective of this mission has now changed: Get out of there."

Moj was true to his word, staying just within sight of the men in front of him. Before they retreated back to within the covered area of the walkway, he told his men, "This is now a 'shoot first, ask questions later' situation. Commander, I don't care what you might have to say to that. Standard operations be damned, we're going to bloody well get ourselves out of this." The Commander refrained from verbally responding, merely allowing a half-proud, half-amused smirk to spread over his face.

It didn't stay there long.

Without warning, the leftmost of the three in the rearward group let out a desperate shout as he disappeared from the view of the others. All that could be seen on his monitor was the smoke rushing past him for a few desperate seconds, before he screamed once more, this time in absolute horror. A split second later, his commsphere went to static as a slight thud could be heard through the other audio feeds.

"Wen?" called the Private who had stood next to him, racing over to the edge of the platform and peering over and into the smoke. The slight hole in the smoke which had been punched through by the falling body of Private Wen had quickly filled in, removing any chance of seeing where he had fallen to. "Wen!" he shouted once more. There was no response.

"Private, get back from the edge this inst-" Moj was unable to finish his command before the second Private disappeared from view, a bloody trail left in his wake on the edge of the platform. "Dammit. Weapons free, men. Fire at will," the Captain commanded, his voice carrying back to the groups remaining in the middle of the chamber.

The only man to fire was the one remaining Private from the rear group. Nothing could be seen from his monitor other than the flash of his muzzle as he simply unleashed into empty space. In his panic, he allowed himself to step close to the opposite edge of the platform. There was nothing that the onrushing Captain could do as he, too, was swept away from the platform and into the blanket of smoke.

"Fuck. Men, keep away from those edges if you value your lives," intoned Moj, eyeing the two shaking men flanking him. They quickly retreated to the middle of the walkway.

"Captain, what the hell is going on over there?" asked Rogli, shouting from where he stood at the end of the walkway, He was still desperately looking for any indication of life, but there was nothing to be seen.

"Group four is lost. I repeat, group four is gone. Retreat, Captain. Get your asses over here!" responded Moj. He turned back to the door.

It was then that they stopped being toyed with.

A black flash streaked into Moj's face, ripping his head from his shoulders and sending a fountain of vermilion blood all over the guards on either side of him. They cried out in surprise and anger, trying to turn their weapons an whatever had attacked him, but before the could something grabbed the both of them by their legs, pulling them to either side of the walkway. Those of us in the situation room could only watch in horror as they desperately clawed at the walkway, trying to find some purchase as they screamed in pain from whatever had grabbed them. They lasted no more than another second before all that could be seen from their commspheres was static.

Six of the twelve had fallen, and both the Commander and Lieutenant were desperately searching their heads for some kind of solution. Baralai had run over to the holographic representation of the underground, searching for another way they could possibly exit the chamber.

My attention was drawn back to the monitors as a seventh commsphere was lost. The torso of one of the second group privates could be seen hurtling through the air over the head of Captain Rogli, as he followed its' path in morbid fascination. The man's legs remained on the platform, still standing by themselves for a few seconds before toppling over. It had been such a clean cut that the severed flesh appeared perfectly flat.

"Men, I need you to keep calm now. We need to find the hostile, and take it down," Rogli ordered, urging his men to maintain rank. The five of them, very warily and looking this way and that made their way toward the door.

The Captain's commsphere was suddenly obscured as he was soaked by the arterial blood of the man to his left. Without bothering to look, the until now unflappable Captain screamed "Run!" At his men, before taking off in the direction of the door.

The remaining Privates were picked off like flies. With the commsphere video feeds shaking so much as they ran, all that could be seen or heard of the deaths of the three men was a scream, a squelch, or a splatter. It took less than five seconds for them to fall, and the Captain found himself alone.

Baralai burst past me, knocking Rikku and Buddy to the floor as he leapt at the remaining functioning monitor. "Rogli, I've found a way out!" he shouted, pressing the audio button. Rogli jerked to a stop, clearly listening. "To your right, there's another walkway about twenty or thirty feet down and fifteen or so across. Jump it!"

The Captain immediately complied, stepping to his left to get a slight run-up before leaping – quite literally – for his life off the edge of the walkway. He grunted from the exertion, before all we could see was smoke rushing past him. The walkway rushed up through the smoke, and we heard a pained cry as he landed and the commsphere video feed was lost.

"Captain, are you still there?" Baralai asked desperately.

"Yeah, I'm still alive. Hit my head, no biggie," slurred Rogli. We could hear some shuffling sounds as he supposedly made to stand.

"Okay, now you need to keep running in that same direction. There's another door at the end! The code is four-two-two-eight, copy?" Baralai rushed out, hoping against hope his Captain could escape with his life.

"Yeah, copy that," Rogli replied groggily, though he sounded slightly more coherent. An anxious number of seconds followed as we heard his uneven footsteps through the video feed.

Baralai turned to his Lieutenant. "Get a medical team down to corridor 4-F, ready for him," he commanded. The Lieutenant bobbed his head, rushing over to a communicator on the far wall and speaking into it at a rapid pace.

"I'm almost at the door," came the voice of Captain Rogli, though he sounded barely there. "What was that code again?"

"Four-two-two-"

"Wait. I think I see something," interrupted Rogli. There was silence for a second, before the sound of him fumbling around desperately came through the audio feed. "Yeah, there's something coming. It's... oh, Yevon. Oh, _shit_. Oh my-" his voice was cut off by the crack of a rifle shot, and then another and another. A pause, and then one final shot came through, before silence.

"Captain? Captain! Please, Captain, tell me you copy," Baralai pleaded, slumping against the monitors and knocking a couple from their mounts and to the floor. After five seconds passed without reply, he collapsed in defeat. The Commander walked over to him, head in hands.

"Commander, initiate a full lockdown. Maximum alert," Baralai ordered, not looking up from where he dazedly watched the static on the monitor at his feet. "I don't want anyone going in or out of the underground without my say-so."

"Understood, sir," Ganst replied, making his way calmly to a machine next to the one his Lieutenant stood at, his eyes wide in horror.

I took stock of myself now, noticing for the first time that I had Rikku wrapped up around me as she shook in pure shock. I saw Yuna being comforted by Paine, and Brother had fallen back against a partition wall with Shinra burying his head in his shoulder as Buddy rubbed circles in his back.

I stroked Rikku's back gently, trying to soothe her as I brought myself under control. I had been so absorbed in the video and audio feeds that I hadn't paid any attention to my own situation, and I found that I had sweat my clothes through, and my legs had gone weak.

Everything I had been through and seen and done on the pilgrimage had made me grow up, that much was true. But there truly is nothing that can prepare you for the horrors of death, particularly deaths such as those we had all witnessed here. The worst part of it was being helpless, knowing that there was nothing you could do for them to get them out of there. If the deaths stop hurting you like this, if you stop feeling every single one, if it stops tearing your very soul to shreds to see a comrade fall, then you stop being human.

I'm glad I can still feel like this. I couldn't be sure I still would, after the last two years.

Rikku pulled back slightly now, and I looked into her eyes for something. I knew, now, that I had to tell them everything Bahamut had told me. There was no hiding it, no quietly sorting things out before the bad guys turned up, and there was no keeping it contained. I should have known, really, that if the fayth couldn't stop it then I would need to pull every resource in I could get and be completely on my guard, but damn it I'd been waiting two years to get some time with my friends and I bloody well needed it.

I'm only human, after all.

So I looked into Rikku's eyes for that last seal of approval, that last confirmation I needed. I had to know that she believed it too, that she wanted to tell them. And I received no doubt. She returned my gaze evenly, and gave me a solemn nod. One final squeeze, a peck on the cheek, and she pulled away, turning to stand at my side.

She had no idea how grateful I was for that.

"Um, guys," I called out. No-one paid any attention. "Guys!" Once again, nothing. "_Oi!_ Listen up!" That got their attention.

They all looked curiously at me, as I turned to Baralai. "Get everybody here. And I mean it, _everybody_," I prayed that he understood my meaning. "I think I know what's causing this, and I'm only going to explain it once." His eyes widened, and Yuna gasped as the Commander narrowed his eyes in anger.

"So get their asses over here, right now. 'Cos this is about to get a whole lot worse."


	16. Chapter 13: Gravitas

_A/N: Never have I written so much dialogue. It's a slight change of pace, and I had a few changes of plan in trying to keep this interesting. In some ways, I'm a bit dissatisfied with how this turned out; however, it had to be written. It's just one of those chapters which are necessary to jump-start the next part of the story._

_19/10/2011: I didn't give this a proper proof-read before releasing. I'll do that tomorrow after work, with luck._

_Disclaimer: I do not own FFX or X-2._

* * *

_Mistake_

_Chapter 13: Gravitas_

The crowd had assembled before me.

The conference room which we had commandeered for the purposes of this meeting would have had no trouble holding an inter-departmental debate on the goings-on in Bevelle; however, with the assembled players' various presences and the supremely tense atmosphere which had settled over the room, it was understandable that it felt a little crowded.

An expansive table was set in the middle of the room, made of a single lump of beautiful black granite. Down either side of the table - and at it's head - sat very comfortable chairs, sleek and understated in design.

Filling these chairs were all the 'concerned parties', as I had heard Lieutenant refer to them. Baralai had carried out my request dutifully, and I couldn't identify if there was anyone missing. I had gratefully patted Baralai on the shoulder earlier, once he confirmed all would be in attendance.

It had been a horribly tense number of hours as we waited for their arrivals. Few words had been exchanged, especially once I had made it abundantly clear to all the others that I would wait for our guests to arrive.

If I had to explain the whole thing, I was only going to do it once.

I stared up in the direction of the elaborate chandelier hanging from the ceiling, the supports for the score of bulbs coiling around each other masterfully. My eyes shifted out of focus as I looked into the middle distance, not paying any attention to my surroundings.

And I had good reason to be distracted, for this could well be one of the defining moments in the history of Spira. Our response to this threat would make or break us, and it was my job to instigate that response.

_No pressure, Tidus._

My opening statement would be the only part of this I could script. After that, it would be a free-for-all. There were a lot of men with egos and opinions in this room, and they would clash, no doubt. It was all about setting the right tone for the discussion. And keeping people on track.

_Glad I'm not a politician_, I thought amusedly.

I stood in front of them all, my back resting on the front wall and posture seemingly relaxed. With my hands in my pockets, one knee raised as the sole of my right foot was planted on the wall, most would call me casual. However, those who knew me better could see the tension, see the turmoil. And, if I were to look their way, I would see their concern.

The one positive through all this had been Rikku. Despite all the shit I'd put her through, she had put them aside and, upon our arrival in the conference room, refrained from taking a seat and had, instead, settled herself against the wall to my right. Her head was bowed, eyes closed, and posture rigid. With her arms crossed over her chest and back ramrod-straight, I knew she was displeased. However, her presence close to my side here was priceless, giving me some level of assurance that I had someone in my corner.

I heard the scraping of a chair, before Baralai's voice penetrated the haze over my mind.

"Tidus, if you could please get us under-way," he politely requested. "All our guests here were briefed on their journeys over, and are aware of the gravity of the situation."

_Not on your life._

I took another ten seconds, arranging my thoughts and working out exactly what I would say. Finally, I set my shoulders, pushed myself away from the wall and met his gaze evenly.

_This is it. Don't blow it._

"The guards were killed by no mere fiend. They were, in fact, killed by something more threatening than anything Spira has seen before. If we do not counter it quickly and effectively, we are all, in a word, _fucked_."

_That_ got their attention. Their reactions varied, some were shocked, some disbelieving, some resigned. Rikku still stood impassively by the wall, watching me and the rest of the room through a few braids which had fallen in front of her bowed face.

And so I recounted everything I had learnt about the shades, deeming no detail too small. Many times throughout my monologue, it would seem as if someone would interrupt, but they would always think better of it, allowing me to finish. So, for fifteen minutes the room was filled only with my voice as I gave them the run down on the latest and greatest in a long line of threats to their livelihoods.

Were they convinced? _Maybe yes, maybe no._

I stood alone now, as Rikku had taken the one remaining seat at the head of the table closest to myself. She had remained impassive, a response mirrored by Nooj, though likely for different reasons. Though I doubted he was aware of this beforehand, from what I had been able to piece together it was clear that this was a standard response across the board for him. Next to him sat Paine, who mirrored him to a certain extent, though she her eyes were narrowed in thought.

The most extreme response was from Yuna. She had, once she overcame her initial shock, simply put her head in her hands and despaired. My heart went out to her; for the second time, she had seemingly rid the world of a monster only for another to take it's place. To her credit, only a few tears had escaped before she composed herself.

On the other end of the spectrum – and the other end of the room – was LeBlanc. She was clearly unwilling to take me at my word, and, if her open expression was sincere, she was not only in denial but was rather angry with me too. Her ever-present sidekicks, Ormi and Logos, were without doubt going to back her up on it, and the way Ormi was cracking his knuckles did not fill me with confidence. _Whoopee_.

Gippal didn't appear to know what to think. He had arrived in a hail of overly-friendly pats on the back and cocky grins, but he now sat in silence, a fairly unreadable demeanour to him. I got the feeling that he didn't believe me, but that the fact that his peers did cast enough doubt in his mind to make him refrain from taking a stance on the matter.

The rest of the Gullwings had taken me at my word, and, to my relief, seemed quite controlled about it. Perhaps they hadn't yet moved past all that had happened before, and the continuation of their troubles failed to unsettle them. Shinra, I could see, had taken copious notes and was now hunched over his portable machina hub, researching away.

The New Yevon contingent, too, had accepted my prognosis without question. Commander Ganst and his Lieutenant were already in quiet discussion among themselves over plans for defending the headquarters against an internal threat. The Praetor himself merely contemplated silently, though he paid close attention to the responses of his former Crimson Squad colleagues.

To my shock, the first to offer any spoken reaction was the one sitting directly in front of me.

"So, we need to respond immediately and collectively. This has to be a joint effort, otherwise we will be overrun in no time," Rikku began, shifting slightly in her seat as she brushed her hair out of her face and re-engaged herself into the room, showing a side of herself that rarely surfaced: the one that proves, above all else, that she takes after her Dad. "I think we should, above all else, check the other farplane gateways and secure them as best we can. Obviously, it would take a long time for us to do this ourselves, so we should get help from some friends for this.

"Wakka and Lulu can scout out the Besaid Temple, Dona and Barthello the one in Kilika, Gippal's Machine Faction can secure Djose, and we can lock down the one over in the Temple personally. We can send some of Commander Ganst's guard out to help Kimahri secure the Sunken Cave and Remien."

"And Zanarkand?" asked Nooj, shifting forward in his seat, his own notepad now set on the table in front of him.

"I... hadn't thought that far," Rikku admitted sheepishly. I stepped up behind her and gave her shoulder a squeeze in appreciation. She spared me a glance and a brief smile, before turning back to the others.

"Wait, don't tell me you're buying this hogwash?" LeBlanc interjected, her face a mask of shock. "Some kid claims to have been visited in his sleep by a bunch of fairy lights and warned of some fanciful terror and you _believe_ him!" LeBlanc's question included the whole room, but her ire was seemingly directed towards Rikku only. "There has to be an explanation for this that doesn't involve someone's nightmares!"

"Yes," Rikku retorted simply. "I would trust him with my life; have done, many times." Once more, she glanced at me and gave a little smile, this one rather more shy than the previous. It put a goofy grin on my face, one which was unaffected by LeBlanc's continuing fire.

"Seriously? He's a simple minded Blitzball player, hardly a reputable profession!"

_Now that was out of order,_ "Hey -"

"It's a whole lot better than being a whiny little girl, LeBlanc," Rikku interrupted, rising from her seat in a flash with her face set in a scowl. "Besides, he travelled to the ends of Spira with us as Yunie's guardian, and a brilliant one at that!"

"If we can all calm down a little, I believe we have important business to conduct," interrupted Nooj, his quiet but clear-cut voice broking no argument from LeBlanc. Rikku, however, remained standing and visibly seething.

"Rikku," began Paine, though she had no need to continue as Rikku seemed to perform an emotional reversal and retook her seat, a pleasant smile taking place of the aforementioned scowl.

Feeling a little chuffed at her impassioned defence, I ruffled her hair playfully and claimed a seat on the edge of the table between herself and Buddy, who sat to her right. Ignoring her narrowed eyes as she rearranged her hair, I turned my body toward Shinra, who had set himself up in the next seat down from Buddy. "Shinra, can we set up some commsphere links with Wakka, Kimahri, Dona and the others?" I asked, to which he nodded immediately. He rose from his seat, scampering quickly out of the room, presumably to collect some of the monitors from the situation room.

Feeling eyes on me, I turned my head around to find Yuna – sat opposite Buddy – watching me searchingly. Uncertain of what to make of her attentions, I raised an eyebrow at her, the meaning behind which she quickly comprehended.

To my surprise, she turned instead to my left, and spoke to Rikku in a hushed whisper that, despite her efforts, carried throughout the room. "You already knew, didn't you?"

Silence briefly followed, as all the others stopped whatever conversations they were engaged in and switched their attention to the three of us. As I watched Yuna's eyes bore into Rikku's, and how the younger of the two cousins slowly began to wilt under the strength of her gaze, I resolved to head this one off before it could really get started.

"Yes, I told her," I stated resolutely, drawing Yuna's attention to myself. "I had to get it off my chest and, well, Rik's always been good at reading me." I let a sheepish grin seep out as I glanced at Rikku. "Besides, I thought you had enough to think about," I rushed out, seeing Yuna about to protest. It only stalled her momentarily, however.

"Why just her? Why didn't you tell us all earlier?" Turning to her cousin, she continued. "And you, Rikku, why did you keep this to yourself? You had to know how serious it was."

"Of course she did, but I asked her not to," I lied, covering for her. After all, you could argue that that was the case, however there was never any verbal arrangement to that effect. But Yuna didn't know that. "Look, I'm sorry if you feel back-stabbed by that, but I really thought I was doing you a favour -" and that's the truth "- at least at the time. I realise my mistake now; this has to be dealt with right now; it's not something I can do in my own time -" Rikku poked me in the ribs as soon as the words left my mouth. "OK, fine, _our_ own time." I rolled my eyes at her wilfulness as she nodded in concurrence, rubbing the assaulted rib as if I were grievously harmed.

"Regardless, I've told you now," I concluded, ending the conversation abruptly as Shinra returned to the room with cases in hand. He quickly set a number of the monitors contained within up on the front wall, before returning to his workstation and booting up the commsphere systems.

"We will be using an entirely new commsphere network that I set up with the express purpose of facilitating instant emergency response in a co-ordinated fashion," Shinra rattled off as he typed, a number of the monitors flashing into life. "In other words, this is a faster, more powerful and more secure commsphere network than the public channels on which the vast majority of commspheres run. I sent a single secure commsphere to one of our contacts in each of the major towns throughout Spira a week ago. By now, they should have received them, along with the instructions for use."

"Yeah, mine arrived a couple days ago. Password protected, right?" asked Gippal, leaning forward from his seat and speaking up for the first time. Nooj, too, nodded his head, and I could see Baralai agreeing too.

"Yes, I too received mine some days ago. I would have used it in order to make my initial contact with you, however I had yet to read the instructions and was in a bit of a rush," Baralai contributed, a slight crease in his forehead.

"You're correct, Gippal. The password – which you must speak in order to use the commsphere – activates a secure encryption key within the commsphere itself, enabling it to decrypt the messages which are broadcast centrally from my workstation on the Celsius. It also allows it to apply the encryption to any data transmitted by the commsphere. Ergo, you have a secure connection." Seeing the blank faces that greeted his monologue, Shinra resorted to his usual ice-breaker. "I'm just a kid."

"Very well then, are we all in accord?" asked Baralai. At the chorus of affirmative responses that followed, barring the 'harrumph' from LeBlanc as she crossed her arms, Baralai smiled. "So be it. We shall contact the others, and organise co-ordinated scouting missions for each of the fayth. Lieutenant," Baralai went on, turning to the two members of his guard who were present in the room. "If you can initiate the search of the fayth in Bevelle, Remien and Macalania?" The Lieutenant made to leave his seat, before pausing and retaking it.

"Praetor, I'm afraid we would not have enough squads to cover all those locations. If I may suggest that we make other arrangements for Macalania?" Baralai nodded, and the Lieutenant rose from his seat in a controlled fashion and swiftly leaving the room. I dove across the room, snatching the chair before dragging it all the way back to the front of the room to sit in-between Buddy and Rikku. Rikku chuckled lightly at my antics, though Buddy merely raised an eyebrow in response. Tough crowd.

"What about Baaj?" asked Yuna, looking around the table. Her eyes settling back on Baralai, she continued. "We can always go and check it ourselves; we have the Celsius, after all, and it shouldn't take too long."

"No, that will use time we simply do not have; we need all of you here, where you can help plan and execute our main response," responded Baralai.

"Yeah, with Cid's girl here, we've got it in the bag!" joked Gippal, dramatically pumping his fist in triumph. Rikku huffed and began to cross her arms, only to stop mid-motion as a thought occurred to her.

"Wait, that's brilliant!" she commented, clearly thinking furiously.

"Well, I do try-"

"Not you Gippal," she murmured, waving him off and ignoring his pout. "We're not the only ones with an airship. Remember what Pops said? He kept the Fahrenheit, so that he could ship people to and from Zanarkand! We can simply... _commandeer_ it for a short while for moving our own people around. That way, us Gullwings won't have to go anywhere!" She finished with a flourish, bouncing in her seat, before setting her face into a massive grin and leaning back in satisfaction.

Clearly pleased, Baralai once again retook control of the meeting. "Yes, that would do perfectly. Shinra, can you open the connection to Cid?"

"I see your one connection, and raise you... six!" Shinra finished with an excited click of his keyboard, at which point half the monitors at the front of the room came to life. Visible on-screen were Wakka and Lulu, Kimahri, Dona and Barthello, a man who I assumed was Gippal's deputy, Cid, and, last but not least, Elma and Lucil.

"Greeting to all of you," began Baralai, rising from his chair and stepping to the front of the room, where a commsphere sat recording the group of us. "I do not have the luxury of time in which to offer an adequate explanation, so I will be brief. Contrary to popular belief, Spira is by no means safe from total destruction. Quite the opposite, in fact. There is a new threat that long went past the horizon and is now on our doorsteps; these doors, we believe, are located at each of the fayth sites, for this threat arrives from the farplane, though it originates from beyond."

His rapid-fire briefing gained the rapt attention of all those on screen, barring little Vidina who was much more interested in wriggling out of Lulu's arms and grabbing the pretty commsphere.

"Eh, figures." Cid - the bridge of the Fahrenheit clear in the background - was the first to respond, shoulders sagging in head shaking in despair. The man had seen a lot in his life. "So, what would you have us do, _Yevonite_?"

Baralai recoiled at the venom injected into the Cid's closing remark, though to his credit he recovered quickly. "If you had heard our conference in Luca, you would be well aware, Cid, that I have promised to work in partnership with both the Youth League and the Machine Fact-"

"Bullshit, you will," Cid spat, loathing lacing his voice. "You, personally? Maybe, you come across as a decent enough chap. But _you_, as in all of Yevon? Like hell you will!"

"Pops, would you just shut up?" came Rikku's tired voice. Turning toward her, I could see her face was half-covered by the palm of her left hand, as she rubbed wearily at her eyes. "We shouldn't have to deal with this right now, there are more important things to worry about."

Cid opened his mouth to retort once more, before thinking better of it. "Kimahri thinks Rikku right, but Cid question true. What do we do?" asked Kimahri, his quiet voice cutting through the silence that had filled the room after Rikku had spoken.

"Sir Wakka, Lady Dona, Feppak, and Kimahri; could we implore on you to pay a visit to your nearest fayth and scout them out? We will be handling the fayth at Macalania, Bevelle and Remien Temples ourselves. As for the temple at Baaj, we would ask Cid to ferry our troops out in order for them to conduct the search." After conferring briefly with Nooj, he continued. "Additionally, it we be of great assistance if you could collect Elma and Lucil and bring them to Macalania Temple so that they can investigate the fayth there. Would that be alright?" seeing Cid's slightly reluctant nod, Baralai continued. "Very well. All of you, be sure to take care when proceeding toward the fayth, for there may be some exceedingly dangerous monsters present. If you see any sign of trouble, back out immediately and report back to us via the commspheres." Seemingly satisfied, Baralai concluded by asking if there were any questions.

As the man I assumed was named Feppak looked to Gippal and received a slight incline of the head in return, Wakka entered the discussion. "Er, Praetor? Yuna? What do we know about these fiends? How do we fight them? I mean, I'll be taking some crusaders with me, but there's only so much we can do, ya?"

"They are not fiends, but for the sake of the argument I'll ignore that. As for how to fight them..."

"Don't," stated Yuna firmly. "But if you have no choice, then do so quickly and only to the extent that would allow you to escape. We know very little about them, but they are definitely sneaky and deadly."

At this, Lulu turned an icy glare on the Praetor, who could be forgiven for looking a little intimidated. "Surely, as the leaders of every major faction in the whole of Spira is present here we can find some soldiers willing to do this in the stead of civilians? Men like Wakka have families who will miss him if he is forced into doing a soldiers' work."

"My apologies, Lulu, but I'm afraid we simply do not have the time. We have but a few task forces with which we would entrust such a mission, and even they lack the experience and ability of your husband here, and of Sir Kimahri, Lady Dona and Sir Barthello. Truly, we wish you simply to open the chamber of the fayth, check it's empty, then close it. Nothing more."

Accepting his explanation, but clearly unhappy about it, Lulu relented for the time being. I had the feeling that Baralai was off her Calm card list.

The organised discussion now broke up as everyone began talking amongst themselves. I immediately rose and stood by Baralai. "What of Zanarkand?" I questioned him, wondering as to the security of what, regardless of whether or not it was reality, I still considered to be my home town.

"For now, we can do nothing. Once one of our squads finishes up with a Temple - most likely the one checking the one at Palace St. Bevelle – we will get them airlifted over there. It will have to wait, though." This was seconded by Nooj, who had risen from his seat and joined us at the front of the room.

"Yes, we have precious few men to spare. I'm afraid a lot of my people took leave in the wake of the announcement in Luca, seeing the chance for a bit of a holiday. I have already sent the call to cancel leave, but it will take some time for them all to regroup," Nooj offered, looking displeased with himself.

The two of them walked to the corner of the room now and were quickly joined by Gippal, Ganst and Yuna as they began discussing tactics. LeBlanc and her cronies had fallen into their own conversation, as had the rest of the Gullwings. Seeing her talking animatedly with Brother, I found myself, not for the first time, checking Rikku out. I couldn't help but notice once again just how gorgeous she was, both inside and outside.

_Hey, I am a red-blooded male, y'know?_

"Oi, eyes away, boy." Cid's voice snapped me out of my bikini-induced trance, and I turned to look guiltily at him. "Yeah, that's more like it. What in the hell are you doing alive, anyway? Last I saw, you were leaping from the deck of my airship and disappearing in a cloud of pyreflies!"

"Yeah, it's a bit of a long story. Maybe, once this is all over, we can sit down over some beer and I can tell you about it," I returned with a smile and a shrug. "This time, I'm here to stay."

"Good, because do I have a bone to pick with you or what. You may not have noticed, but I do in fact pay attention to my daughters' moods. Therefore, I'm well aware that you broke my little girl's heart, kid. What'ya got to say for yourself?"

"E yccina oui, dryd ran raynd femm hud cdyo pnugah. E femm veq ed, yht E femm syga ed ib du ran. Ed'c rymv - ralg - ymm dra naycuh E's pylg. Drec fruma cyjehk dra funmt drehk? Dryd'c y ceta zup," I retorted strongly but quietly, preventing my voice from carrying. Cid's eyebrows raised in response, before his face set itself into a disgusted scowl. {I assure you, that her heart will not stay broken. I will fix it, and I will make it up to her. It's half - heck - all the reason I'm back. This whole saving the world thing? That's a side job.}

"Drah fryd ypuid so meddma heala drah, rir get? Tet oui ajah luhcetan ran? Yht tuh'd drehg vun y sehida dryd E fuh'd red oui zicd yc rynt ev oui rind so Oihy, palyica po Spira E femm." Cid was seething now, and I tried to cut him off before he could get a real head of steam going. {Then what about my little niece then, huh kid? Did you even consider her? And don't think for a minute that I won't hit you just as hard if you hurt my Yuna, because by Spira I will.}

"Yuna... E lulgat ib pek desa fedr ran. Po dra desa E naymecat E ryt vymmah eh muja fedr Rik, ed fyc duu myda. Ev drana fyc uha drehk E fuimt ryja tuha tevvanahdmo uh dra bemknesyka, ed fyc dryd uha hekrd eh Macalania." By the time I realised I had actually said that, to Cid of all people, it was too late to take it back. Instead, I shut up and hoped that Cid wouldn't kill me for it. {Yuna... I cocked up big time with her. By the time I realised I had fallen in love with Rik, it was too late. If there was one thing I would have done differently on the pilgrimage, it was that one night in Macalania.}

"I gotta say kid, there were just a few things I was sure of about you after we met in that short time from Bikanel to Bevelle. First off, you had spunk. I liked that. Second, that you liked my little girl a lot more than I was comfortable with, and, third, that you would protect both her any Yuna to hell and back." Cid gave me a quick nod of respect, which I accepted gratefully. "Which was why I was so confused by what returned to my airship in Zanarkand. I had a heartbroken daughter, and a niece who was in love. In the middle of the two was you, and I ain't never seen anyone so torn as you were then. I might've pounced on you pretty hard over it, too, though I'm not sure you were quite aware that that was the reason for my curtness."

"So, you're _not_ a grumpy old man, like Rik's been telling me all this time?" I asked cheekily.

"'Course not, I'm a pleasant man once you get to know me... or so I like to think," answered Cid. I couldn't tell if he was joking or not, but he stopped me from looking any deeper by turning off the commsphere with a remark about how he had to get moving.

I was about to turn around and rejoin the others when I noticed the one remaining monitor that was still connected. Standing there in the bitterly cold wind of Gagazet was Kimahri. It only took me a moment to assess the situation, and, upon doing so, I sighed resignedly.

"You heard that, huh?" Kimahri simply nodded. "Well, got the gist at least. But hey, it's not like you didn't already know, is it? After all, you've got a good set of ears and a strong sense of smell on you." Once again, Kimahri nodded. "So, do you have anything to say about it, or are you just going to nod?" I asked, frustrated by his silence.

"Kimahri thinks Tidus will do the right thing. Tidus always try to do the right thing, even when it make Auron laugh," Kimahri spoke at last, bringing a slight chuckle from me.

"Amen to that. Could never please the old codger, I couldn't. Seriously, though, you shouldn't worry. I promise I'll let her down easy."

With a final nod, Kimahri closed his connection. Now turning around, I checked to see if anyone was listening; however, it was clear that they had all been engrossed in their own business. As I stepped up behind Rikku, who was seated among the other Gullwings - minus Yuna – I began to seriously consider how to go about letting the Lady Summoner down. After all, what I had seen so far did not suggest her feeling had dulled one bit. In fact, the signs I had seen pointed in the opposite direction.

This wouldn't be easy.

As I stepped closer, I saw out of the corner of my eye that the Lieutenant had returned to the room and was walking briskly toward his Commander. I didn't halt my progress, however, and finally stood behind her. I tangled my fingers in her hair, massaging her scalp, and she straight away shifted her head to allow me better access, recognising the touch. Speaking to Brother, I asked, "Fryd'c dra bmyh?" {What's the plan?}

"Vun huf, fa fyed vun cluidehk secceuhc yht vun taleceuh vnus _'maytanc'_," Brother replied, a note of indignation in his voice at the insinuation that he would not be included in the group of leaders.{For now, we wait for scouting missions and for decision from 'leaders'.}

Feeling Rikku repressing a laugh beneath my fingers, I grinned down at her. She must have felt me shift, for she tilted her head back and made eye contact. The mirth was still visible in her eyes, and, seeing her like this, I couldn't help but fall all over again. _This_ was the girl I – quite literally – lived for right now. It's moments like this that I realise just how lucky I was to get those few short weeks when I was truly with her, alongside the months where we danced around each other in a highly entertaining yet frustrating game of keep-away. She had no idea just how much I wanted to kiss her right there and then.

Or maybe not, for I could see a guarded aspect to her body language, one that was quite difficult to pick up on. Then again, perhaps she was still simply careful around me anyway; it's not like I had done much lately to instil a renewed confidence from her.

Regardless, I continued to tweak her scalp, moving my hands lower and cupping her jaw slightly. Clearly getting more relaxed and comfortable, her eyes closed and she simply leaned back against me, oblivious to the world around her. So oblivious was she that she didn't react when Ganst coughed to get everyone's attention. Not halting the massage, I raised my head to give Ganst at least half my attention.

"The first squad has begun it's operation in the Bevelle Temple. All other squads have begun moving toward their operations further afield, and I can confirm that Sir Wakka, Sir Kimahri and Lady Dona have begun leading teams toward their targets. With luck, we should have news within the next hour or two," Commander Ganst stated in his clear-cut fashion. Nodding to his Praetor, he returned to discussions with his Lieutenant as they moved to assembly a machina which I could only assume was their own remote monitoring tool for their guards. It was clearly not as sophisticated as Shinra's, though, as there was no video feed; merely, I could see a single audio channel had been set up with the team leader.

I looked back to the other Gullwings, who had merely given the Commander a cursory glance before they continued their discussion, which I had deduced was regarding the best way to combat them, both from a direct combat perspective and from the logistical side. Taking a now-empty seat which Shinra had just left in order to check up on his computers, I sat right next to Rikku once more. As soon as I sat down, she grabbed my closest hand a put it back on her scalp, pouting spectacularly at the loss of her massage. I smiled and resumed the massage, drawing her head to rest on my shoulder as I did. She didn't resist, and in fact pressed herself a lot tighter to me than I had anticipated, before tossing her legs half over mine and settling down. Accepting the contact without complaint, I moved my free hand into her hair and wrapped my nearside arm around her midsection.

Feeling especially bold, I put my mouth close to her ear. "I can't hide what I feel," I whispered, feeling shivers go down her spine as I did so. "You know I'm a rubbish liar, and, if you know me as well as I think you do, you will have sussed out exactly how I feel about you."

And there it was; not in so many words, but she would get the gist.

_Your move, Rik._

She remained silent for a few seconds, seemingly considering, before shifting up to move her mouth level with my own ear.

"Er, by the way, everybody," spoke Shinra from where he sat typing away. I would've felt bitter, but, from Rikku's body language, it was clear she was ignoring him.

"Later. I promise, Ti. _Later_," she whispered seductively in my ear, her lips brushing the lobe as she did so, before she planted a sweet kiss on my jawline.

_Fuck me sideways, talk about a change of tune!_

Thoroughly chuffed, as well as a little hot under the collar, I glanced around. Seeing that no-one was paying us any attention, I gave her a squeeze and pulled her yet closer for a brief but heartfelt cuddle. She responded in kind, giving me a bit of a rib-crusher, before once more giving me a peck on the cheek and pulling away. Smiling at my slightly baffled face, she interlaced her finger with my own and brought my hand into her lap, giving my knuckles a stroke.

The whole exchange had left me in a better mood than I had been in ever since becoming a real living, breathing person... and more than a bit flustered. As she returned her attention to Shinra, I attempted to do the same, if only to calm my now-raging hormones.

"-they seemed to have simply stopped. It's as if they had never happened. No more seismic activity, not even a single noise coming from down in the underground. The fiends are completely silent," explained Shinra, clearly struggling to understand the reasons behind his readings. He stopped talking, and simply continued typing, though I thought I could hear a few muttered words coming from him as he considered the various rational explanations.

"Well, it could be a good thing, right?" Gippal asked the room in general. Being cuffed around the back of his head by LeBlanc was about as good a response as he was ever going to get for that one.

With that, everyone seemed to settle in for the long haul. I was tempted to suggest we order some food, only to be beaten to the mark by Brother, who was ruled by his stomach far more than I. We connected the audio feed from the team leader down in the Temple in Bevelle to the speakers of one of the monitors, and set ourselves for a potentially action-packed few hours.


	17. Chapter 14: The Swarm

_A/N: So, here we go again. Work is manic right now, but I found myself with a bit of free time on a weekend and thought I may as well get started once more. Some serious occurrences in this chapter, so fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride; after all, this is the longest chapter I have ever written!_

_Oh, and I would like to take the time to recommend a simply awesome book series: The Dresden Files. Been glued to them for quite some time now, and it's one heck of a read._

_Disclaimer: I do not own FFX or X-2._

* * *

_Mistake_

_Chapter 14: The Swarm_

"I'm telling you, Gippal, a frontal assault against such an unknown enemy is highly inadvisable!" exclaimed Commander Ganst forcefully, squaring off against the far more relaxed Gippal.

The two of them had been at loggerheads throughout the planning process for our tactical response. They hadn't been the only ones; there were so many schools of opinion – and big egos – that a consensus was looking unlikely. And, considering just how stubborn some of these men and women were, I'd have been surprised if they so much as entertained any kind of compromise.

"Well, it's worked before. If we took down Vegnagun by just charging in and taking him on then these small fry should be easy!" Gippal responded, the bravado in his voice slightly forced as he tried in vain to stay optimistic in the face of such resistance.

Yuna shook her head. "I'm sorry, Gippal, but Tidus said these things would be a lot more dangerous than anything we had seen before. And I'm not going to doubt him on that, especially after the... what we saw on the screens. Those poor men..." she trailed off, still struggling with the effects of the last day.

"Well, since at this point we have no idea just how to take them down, why don't we try and slow them down?" I offered. "Give ourselves some breathing space, so we have time to think and can come up with something a little more workable and with more manpower?"

"Like what?" questioned LeBlanc, another staunch supporter of the 'let's just slice and dice them here and now' brigade.

"We could, I don't know... collapse the Palace on them?"

I knew as soon as I said it that it wouldn't go down well. As Brother pumped his fist in support, I sensed, more than saw, Rikku and Buddy wincing next to me. As for the others... well, for the most part they simply stared open-mouthed.

"Of course we're not going to collapse the _fucking_ Palace of Saint Bevelle on them!" Well, not quite all of the others, as Ganst's roar proved.

"Hey, it was just an idea!" I retorted, though only a little heat crept into my voice. So sue me, maybe I hadn't quite forgiven Yevon for all that it had done. And maybe I never would. "It's not like we've come up with anything better in the last three hours."

I could see at least a little grudging acceptance among the group, for they understood my frustration. For all the talking and posturing, we really hadn't gotten anywhere near a workable plan.

Baralai, seeing the same as I, walked slowly towards the head of the room, massaging his temples wearily. "Perhaps it would serve us all well to take a fifteen minute break. Rest your eyes, grab a drink, and get your heads back in order. We are achieving nothing by pursuing with this at present. Perhaps some fresh ideas may be uncovered if we all relax a little."

Though there was a little dissent among a few of the ranks, with Nooj, Paine, Ganst and the Lieutenant continuing to discuss fervently in rather more hushed tones, as well as Shinra continuing to type away at his computer, the rest of us departed from the packed meeting room. I found myself walking toward the break room alongside Yuna, with Rikku and Gippal in close attendance.

It had been an incredibly frustrating couple of hours. The debate – which had, at times, become rather heated – had moved nowhere, and we were fast running out of possible plans of action. Much to our collective annoyance, the few scouting teams we had sent down to assess the general area had encountered the main doors to Vegnagun's chamber securely locked, and none of the manual overrides were in operation. Whatever was in there, it didn't want us joining it anytime soon.

Letting my mind wander, I thought about the rest of Spira. They would be out and enjoying the late afternoon sunshine, perhaps doing some shopping or visiting the endless Blitzball tournaments in Luca. Or maybe they'd be down on the beaches of Besaid and Kilika, or relaxing on the banks of the Moonflow. Regardless, they would be unaware as to the threat now lurking beneath this Palace.

My earlier suggestion of collapsing the Palace unto itself seemed to make yet more sense.

The break room was a spacious living area, complete with coffee machines, a Table Blitzball table and sofas which could be converted into beds. It was far more tastefully decorated than one would expect given the rest of the barracks; meaning it at least had wallpaper and coloured furniture other than the drab greys and, well, duller greys of the other rooms and corridors. At one end, it also had the first window I had seen in the barracks, a heavily-reinforced floor-to-ceiling glass plane with a view overlooking the West side of Bevelle. As a result, the evening sun was blazing an orange path through the centre of the room, bathing it in a glow that leant far more warmth to the place than I ever expected somewhere within this great palace to have.

This was not a room for the politicians and upper-crust of Bevelle; no, this was a room that was much loved by the men and women whose lives would be the only things standing in the way of said politicians and upper-class men and women should those shades strike again.

I may hate Yevon, but that was something I could respect. You don't need a religion for that; all you need is faith, and Faith, in something. Be it society, or Spira itself, or your family and friends...

Needless to say, I walked straight over to a sofa directly in front of the window and laid myself down.

I couldn't be sure how long I lay there, near motionless, as I stared out over the Bevelle skyline. I could feel the stresses and tangles nagging at my nerves, putting me on edge. I knew, more than anyone but that squad of men torn to pieces, just how serious this was. This would count far all, and those people, those _children_, no doubt laughing and playing all over Spira, were counting on us to deliver.

And, unlike every other time, there was no weapon to wield against them. No aeons, no Lenne.

I was the only one among us who had felt their power, had known their might. I had witnessed it first-hand whilst I drifted in the in-between, and it had left me in awe. And I had no way of knowing what could be done to stop them. The fayth had by now been overrun; the presence of the shades in the underground was sign enough of that. And if the fayth couldn't stop them, well...

My line of thought trailed off, my mind drawling a blank. There was nothing, _nothing_ I could think of that would help us. Just a couple of days after I had returned, and already things were escalating out of control. Damn it, I had come back from sort-of-death with a warning, but to what effect? So that instead of dying unawares, a select few will at least know a little of what they're dealing with before they perish? Some good that does -

My depressing stream of consciousness was cut off abruptly as a soft hand lifted my head, a light weight settled onto the sofa and my head was set back onto a pair of surprisingly warm – if ever so slightly skinny – legs. I turned my head a little to the side to see Rik frowning down at me.

"You're stressed," she stated simply, one hand going to my hair and the other settling on my upper arm. I moved to speak, but she _shushed_ me and gently kneaded my aching head.

_Oh_, but that felt _good_.

Lost in the sensation, I did as any subject of a good massage would – closed my eyes and settled myself in. There was no way in hell I'd turn this down, not on my life. I would struggle to remember just how long it had been since she'd done this for me, I had gone without it so long.

I must have made some kind of appreciative sound, for I heard Rik trying in vain to stifle a giggling fit. I raised my eyes to give her a mock glare, but it stood no chance in the face of her amusement. _Well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em_, I thought, succumbing to my own chuckles.

I laid on my back now, eyes open and facing her as she continued to knead my hair with one hand cushioning my head against her legs. I grabbed her free hand with my own, linking our fingers together and resting our joined hands on my chest. She didn't resist in the slightest, in fact giving my hand a slight squeeze and offering a small smile.

I could have laid there forever. The light from the setting sun caught her just so, lending an otherworldly beauty to her already stunning appearance. She almost seemed angelic sitting above me, bringing me back from the brink and sheltering me from the demons, both in the outside world and inside my own head.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'll be eternally grateful to her.

"Rik," I began softly, nuzzling my cheek against her leg. Our eyes met, and I could see a warm glow there that had nothing at all to do with the early evening sun. She adjusted the motion of her fingers, sending a wave of relaxed pleasure through me when she found a particularly sweet spot on my scalp. At her smirk, I could see that she knew exactly what she was doing and was loving every moment of having this power over me.

Well, you wouldn't catch me complaining.

Attempting to re-engage my brain, I blinked a few times and squeezed her hand. "Rik, ruf yna fa kuehk du damm Yuna?" I asked quietly, aware that, although I used a language most of those present were unfamiliar with, there were still some who would understand every word that reached their ears. {Rik, how are we going to tell Yuna?}

She arched an eyebrow at me, before – rather dexterously, I must admit – extracting herself from underneath me, slipping her legs down to entangle with my own and lowering her face to within a hairs-breadth of mine. Needless to say, I found myself a curious mixture of surprised, aroused and excited. The fact that she achieved said movement in less than five seconds only served to further confuse that mixture.

"Who says there's anything to tell?" she whispered – rhetorically, I assumed. As she spoke, her lips brushed mine, sending all the right kind of tingles straight down my spine and making me wrap my arms around her in reflex. Lost in the sensations, I moved to kiss her, only to have her push herself away at the last moment. Momentarily confused, I met her eyes only to see a glint of steel that I had become familiar with. She wanted an answer. Guess I assumed wrong.

Seemingly understanding my silence, she nodded her head briefly, before placing the lightest of butterfly kisses on my lips, and pulling herself away. "I'm not so sure that now is the best time to discuss this, Ti," she whispered once more. "We have to stay focused on those _things_ under Bevelle. Yunie has to, too."

Most people would take her at her word there. She had offered a perfectly valid explanation, choosing the logical solution to the problem under the current circumstances. I, however, was not most people, and could see the meaning hidden between the lines.

"You're protecting her, aren't you?" I asked her quietly, though the slight measure of heat in my voice made it carry far more than I'd wished. I closed the distance between us, sitting up next to her. "Drec ryc hudrehk du tu fedr druca lnaydinac, tuac ed? Ed'c ypuid Yuna." {This has nothing to do with those creatures, does it? It's about Yuna.}

Her expression closed off, her face retreating to a blank mask. She moved away from me abruptly, a storm brewing behind her mask. After taking a few calming breaths – though she appeared only marginally successful in the attempt – she once more pressed in close to me, though this time she sent no delicious sensations through me. "Yunie's happiness is _always_ important!" she whispered roughly through her gritted teeth. With that, she whipped her head away from me and sprung to her feet, circling the sofa.

As she went past, I grabbed her hand, yanking her back toward me. However, despite the roughness of my actions, my voice was calm, steady, and above all, affectionate and understanding. "What about _your_ happiness, Rik?" I asked her, my tight grip on her arm turning to a light grasp as I gently stroked her elbow.

After a quick pause in surprise, her frown returned once again and she turned her back on me, walking off without a word. I sighed heavily, throwing myself back onto the sofa, and feeling no less refreshed than I had when I arrived in the break room. The headache hadn't left, either.

Sometimes, that girl drove me _crazy_. And not always in a good way.

I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose tiredly, before sitting up. Opening my eyes, I found myself face-to-face with Yuna.

Startled, I shot back on the sofa, rocking it onto its back legs momentarily before it settled back down. I shook my head, figuratively removing the cobwebs, and found Yuna quietly giggling at me from behind her hand. Checking behind me, I found that a few of the other had noticed my... manoeuvre, and were thoroughly amused by it. I also noticed that Rikku was nowhere to be seen, having presumably left the room in a huff. Rolling my eyes, I turned back around and Yuna took the seat next to me, before shuffling a little closer.

Now, before passing judgement, put yourself in my position. I was trying to rekindle a relationship with the girl I love, who alternately loves me and hates me, only to have a girl who loves me and believes I love her press herself up against me; you can see why my headache had refused to abate. To my credit, I only back-peddled a little, barely a noticeable distance.

Yuna, of course, noticed.

"Tidus, is something wrong?" she asked concernedly, he brows furrowing together in confusion. I sighed. By itself, this would have been the perfect opportunity to let Yuna down softly and to finally allow her to move on. However, despite my own protestations, Rikku was right, dammit. This was not the time to be throwing a spanner into her emotions. Not at all.

So, I went for halfway.

"I'm just a little out of sorts right now, y'know?" I responded, at least marginally truthfully. "It's all been a bit much, and my head's not exactly in order from the whole, y'know, coming to life thing." I averted my eyes from hers, fearing that she would see the untruths hidden behind my words.

Well, at least there was a modicum of honesty in the answer. And, with luck, it would grant me a bit of space.

"Oh," she said, surprised. She had put her arm on my shoulder closest to her at my initial reaction, but she pulled it back quickly upon hearing the explanation I provided. "Um, well, I'm sorry if I've been a bit... _close_, then.

Poor girl, she sounded mortified. And I felt absolutely horrendous for what I was putting her through; say whatever you like about Yuna, but she's the single most kind-hearted person on the face of this planet. And that is a fact.

I suppose that made me the single most mean-spirited person on the face of this planet. Whoop-de-do.

I couldn't allow myself to leave it at that so, as she was uneasily standing up, I sprung to my feet and pulled her into a hug. A nice, heartfelt, _friendly_ hug. I gave her a big squeeze and rubbed her back a bit for good measure. Pulling away, I thanked her for being so understanding. Slightly shocked, she could only nod and offer a brief smile before walking off to talk to talk with Gippal and LeBlanc, whose animated, er, discussion – seemingly regarding just how a man should touch a lady in greeting – had captured the attention of the rest of the group. Smiling and shaking my head in amused exasperation, I stepped past the commotion and left the break room, turning back in the direction of the meeting room.

I found Paine waiting for me in the hall, leaning back against the wall of the corridor with her arms crossed. Accepting the inevitable, I approached her and mimicked her posture, taking a place on the wall opposite. I waited patiently for her to begin, which, after a few moments of silence, she did.

"Any progress, then?" she asked. I didn't need an elaboration to know to what she was referring to. I wouldn't begrudge her asking; she was only looking out for her friends.

"Yes, in a sense. Up until about five minutes ago, I would have told you that things were going swimmingly. Now... I'm not so sure." I leant my head back against the wall in frustration. "Why are women so damn confusing?" I asked exasperatedly, much to Paine's amusement.

Seemingly satisfied, she pushed herself away from the wall, patting me on the arm before turning toward the meeting room.

We found Nooj, Ganst and Baralai still involved in deep discussion, and Shinra still typing away on his computer, apparently engrossed. The two of us moved over to join the others.

"-I'm telling you, it's the best chance we have!" Nooj proclaimed, leaning forward on his cane. "We side-swipe them completely, catching them off guard and, before you know it, they won't be a problem anymore!"

"Oh, this must be good," Paine interjected dryly, moving to stand next to Nooj. He raised his eyebrows at her, before turning to face the two of us.

"My plan is an obvious one; we take one of the alternate routes into the farplane, work our way down to the 'hub', if you like, before pushing back up the path toward the Bevelle Underground, attacking their rear and catching them by surprise," he offered, before leaning back in satisfaction, seemingly anticipating our praise.

Paine was not especially forthcoming.

"You're making a vast amount of assumptions, Nooj," she said reproachfully. She held up one finger. "First, that the other paths remain clear of shades." Two fingers. "Second, that they have no way to remotely detect us making our way into the Farplane." Three. "Third, that the farplane itself remains in a stable enough condition for us to travel through it." A fourth finger. "Fourth, that we even have a hope in _hell_ of inflicting any kind of damage on this unknown enemy-"

"Alright!" Nooj interrupted displeasedly. "I know it's full of holes, but what else do we have to go on? Like you said, it's an entirely unknown enemy, and we have no chance of performing the necessary reconnaissance to prepare ourselves for combat with them within the time-frame we have available to us."

Smirking slightly in triumph, Paine turned to address the others. "Which is why we should send a scouting group, one with far more experience and combat ability than those we sent down earlier. And they will not be going in the front door."

"So," I started. "Your plan is essentially the same as Nooj's, minus the whole beating them to a pulp part?"

Paine opened her mouth to retort, only to reconsider, close it again, and then let out a resigned "Yes."

I could only rub my forehead in frustration.

The others had been trickling in during our discussion, and the room was full once more. Baralai moved away from us, retaking his place at the front of the room and at the head of the debate.

"It is clear that, as things stand, we will be unable to reach a consensus. Furthermore, I see no eager faces with bright ideas in front of me, so I believe it is safe for me to assume that no-one had any inspiration during our quick recess?" A lot of shaking heads greeted his assessment. "Very well. Then may I propose that we put forward the three main ideas - a frontal assault, an indirect assault and a reconnaissance mission – and put them to the vote. Whichever plan of action earns the most votes we will push forward with. Following the vote, anyone who is truly uncomfortable with supporting said action may take their leave." He paused, eyeing the group up from his vantage point. "Are we in agreement?"

I had to hand it to the guy, he made quite the peacemaker. I nodded, replying in the affirmative as the vast majority of the others did. LeBlanc and Gippal stubbornly stood stock still for a moment, Ormi and Logos looking to their leader in unease, before a few prods from the rest of us made them reluctantly offer their positive replies too.

"Very well then. Shall we begin?" asked Baralai, and this time he received a unified 'Yes' in response. "Excellent. All those in favour-"

That was as far as he got before all hell broke loose.

I jumped about three feet in the air as a piercing alarm sounded in the cramped meeting room. The door burst open, revealing a stricken-looking messenger who made a beeline for the Lieutenant. Baralai and Ganst seemingly appeared behind the Lieutenant from nowhere, and listened intently to what he had to say, their faces growing ever more tense. Shinra was typing furiously on his keyboard, seemingly trying to come to grips with the situation from his terminal.

I, as well as most others in the room, was walking almost subconsciously toward where the discussion was taking place between the New Yevon group. However, before I could reach them, Baralai turned away from their discussion and began rapidly relaying the basics.

"About one minute ago the doors to Vegnagun's chamber were forced open from the inside. Those creatures came pouring out, seemingly in great numbers, and are currently tearing their way through the ground forces we had stationed there. All remaining forces are on their way towards the chamber now in support." He said all this in one breath, somehow able to maintain a strong and calm voice yet rattle that whole sequence off in no time at all. In another time, I may have been impressed.

Right then, I was too busy rifling through the equipment cases we'd brought with us from the Celsius trying to find my sword. And I wasn't the only one; Paine, Rikku and Yuna were all doing the same, and I could see Gippal and Nooj were of the same mind.

"Woah, woah! You lot aren't going down there, are you?" screeched LeBlanc, though her question felt rather redundant. "You could be slaughtered!"

Finally finding my sword, and grabbing it by the hilt, I span around, strapping the scabbard to the buckles down my left hand side as I did so. "And leave the men down there to suffer that fate? Hell no, that's not going to happen," I proclaimed boldly, noticing Paine standing close to my side, seemingly supporting me fully in this. I shot her a brief grin, which she half-returned, before turning back to LeBlanc and her crew. "So you can either help, or you can get out of my way, bitch."

LeBlanc spluttered briefly, before the accumulated stares of all of those present made her huff in indignation before picking up her own weapons. Feeling momentarily pleased with myself, I ran after Ganst, Paine and Rikku, who had lead the charge toward the chamber.

The halls rushed past me in a blur as I followed them, Ganst guiding us through the labyrinth that was the barracks. I caught glimpses of manic offices and small task forces arming up as quickly as they possibly could, but never slowed. I couldn't be sure I'd ever run so fast in my life, but it still didn't feel fast enough.

Ganst abruptly pulled to a halt, putting his palm on a panel of the hallway. Part of the hallway fell away in front of him, revealing a hidden lift. His stoppage had allowed the others to catch up, and we all piled in behind him. As soon as he was on the lift, a round platform about ten meters in diameter with waist-high railings surrounding it, he set it into motion, leaving those lagging at the rear to leap a few feet down onto it. He spared them not a glance.

Itching to keep moving, I started doing some light stretches on the spot, ready for the battle ahead. I saw that almost everybody in that meeting room had come along, and that Ganst was most displeased at the presence of his Praetor. The only ones missing were those who were strictly non-combatants, such as Buddy, Brother and Shinra. Some had chosen to do the same as me, loosening their no doubt tight muscles after all that time spent cooped up in the meeting room. Others, such as Nooj, preferred to close their eyes and relax, perhaps shifting themselves into a more alert state of mind. Ormi, on the other hand, simply looked petrified.

I turned around to find Rikku standing directly behind me. She was not facing in my direction, and was focusing on her stretches, which I noticed mirrored the ones I had been doing a few moments before. No doubt she was reverting back to the days on the pilgrimage, and the lessons Auron had taught us all early on.

I put my hand on her shoulder, startling her slightly. When she looked at me, I could see the hurt simmering beneath the surface; however, she quickly melted and rushed into my arms. I wrapped her up in a tight hug, whispering "Stay safe," into her ear and planted a quick kiss on her temple, which she mirrored. As we pulled apart, the lift came to a halt.

We both took off immediately, side-by-side. The exit to the lift was already open by the time we reached it at a dead run. The exit lead to a tight corridor perpendicular to the door, causing those in front of us to slow and turn around the corner. Rikku, however, did not let up; moving in front of me, she jumped off her right leg, bouncing off the corridor wall with her left and pushing off the wall with that leg, maintaining her momentum through the turn.

Me? I just planted my left foot on the corridor floor and used the strength in it to quickly switch my direction of travel from forward to right, and continue with only a little speed lost. Not all of us are small and agile like Rik, and, as I heard from the thuds behind as Ormi and Logos seemingly made a bit of a hash of it, not all of us had years of Blitzball training to hone their athleticism.

We had quickly closed on Yuna and Paine, who were tight up behind Ganst in the front. Ganst hadn't even broken sweat, clearly having been a field operative before taking the reins of the guard. This notion was only reinforced as he approached a metal door at the end of the corridor. Instead of stopping and turning the handle, he jumped, kicking his legs out in front of him and knocking the door off of it's hinges. In mid-air, he adjusted his stance so that he stood above the door, before dropping down with it onto the dead-straight staircase leading a good fifty feet down into a huge ventilation area. He rode those stairs like he was surfing, jumping from the door before reaching the bottom and letting it slide past him as he landed neatly on solid ground.

The rest of us just ran down as quick as we could.

As we rounded one more corner, leading to another corridor about forty feet across and tall, the sight, sounds and smells of the battle raging ahead hit us for the first time. I saw an eviscerated guard, no more than eighteen, who had the left side of his torso missing. Next to him lay an older guard, perhaps a Captain, judging by his uniform, who was shaking violently as he bled out, being tended to by a panicked medic. Further down I could see a guard tying a tourniquet above his knee with a scream, as his right leg had been ripped off below the knee. Around him was a huge puddle of black goo, for lack of a better term. Before my eyes the puddle was reducing in size, the substance seemingly breaking down and evaporating.

My attention snapped back to the road ahead as I heard a primal scream from something that could not be human. Ganst, a good twenty yards ahead of the rest of us by now, reached the next corner and halted, taking stock of what was before him, before raising his gleaming rapier in his right hand and joining the fray with a battle cry that sent shivers down my spine. I drew my sword in preparation for what would greet me, seeing Paine do the same just in front of me, and charged around the corner at full pelt.

It was carnage. The next corridor was much the same length as the last, but was packed. I saw about twenty or thirty guards, in various stages of dismemberment, desperately fighting for their lives with whatever weapons they could find; their guns, bayonets, swords, knives, broken bits of metal and more could be seen in the hands of those still standing.

However, far more numbered and threatening than the dwindling guard force was the small army of shades that surrounded them. There were at least a hundred in this corridor alone, with more pouring round the corner all the time. They appeared near gaseous, flowing bodies of shadow that I had difficulty tracking. However, as we drew nearer, I could see that they were in fact distinct beings. Beneath their cloaks of shadow lurked a physical body, for a guard neatly cleaved a shade in two ten yards from me. And, at their heads a dull red glow was emitted by their pupil-less eyes.

Suddenly, they appeared to notice our presence, a number of them breaking off from where they were toying with the remaining guards and charging at us. Two headed straight for me, their forms bearing a startling resemblance to a pair of oversized hounds, and, with barely a couple of seconds to set myself, my vision tunnelled.

They came at me from either side, arcing in in a pincer move. At the last possible moment, I drove forward toward my unprotected left side, avoiding the leaping strike of the right-hand shade, sweeping my sword from low by my ankles to shoulder-height, and using my momentum to dramatically enhance the force of the blow. The shade attacking from that side never stood a chance, its hindquarters heading in the opposite direction to its torso, causing it to yelp pathetically. The recoil from the strike jarred my wrists, their skin far tougher than one would anticipate from their almost gaseous appearance. The flow of the move broken, I retreated from the dissipating carcass of the creature, wheeling around to find the second of the pair had recovered from it's own attack and was preparing its next attempt. Feeling a little more confident, I set my feet and waited for it to attack.

It charged at my stronger side, causing me to twist my body and motion to swing at it. However, just before it entered the limit of my reach, it broke right, darting towards my exposed left side. I dove away from it, turning into a forward roll and springing back into a crouch to find it coming at me once more. I brought my sword up to block, just settling it into place on my outstretched hands in time to catch its mouth with the broad side of the sword. The shade struggled forward, its mouth dripping globs of a foul-smelling substance that hissed on contact with the floor. I pushed back, tensing against its weight. With a grunt of effort, I managed to shove it off of me, leaving it off balance and vulnerable to the downward swing of my sword.

I had no time to revel in my victory, as more were coming. Three, this time, and they were far more wary than the first two. Instead of charging blindly, they moved to surround me, two branching around to either side and one moving ever nearer from the front. Feeling an extra burst of adrenaline kick in, I readied myself. There was only one way to take them down.

Surprising them, I shot forward, my sword bursting into flame before crashing down into the skull of the central creature. I whipped around to my right, my sword slicing open the side of the onrushing shade, making it miss my face by inches and wounding it severely. I had no time to strike against the third, just managing to jump over its low strike. Turning around once again, I stalked toward it, barely pausing to slice the head off the whimpering form of the second. The third paused for but a moment, before charging headlong at me once more. I waited for it to commit itself to the move, before sidestepping with far more grace than I ever though I could show and slashing my sword straight through its chest. It never stood a chance, dead in but a flash.

Finding myself with a moment to breathe, I took stock of the rest of our group. For the most part, they were faring in a similar manner to myself: able to handle the shades quite easily on an individual basis, but having a far more difficult time against groups of them. I saw a gaggle of shades, at least ten strong, beginning to form and surreptitiously converge on Baralai and Rikku, who were each fighting their own groups and were unaware of both each others' presence – despite being separated by just a few yards - and the oncoming rush of enemies.

It was time to even the odds.

"Rikku, backtrack!" I called to her, making my way to Baralai with haste as she worked herself back, holding off the beasts attacking her in the meantime. A surprised Baralai turned to look at us, prompting me to quickly send a block in front of him as he let his guard down. He turned back to the battle, as I moved between the two of them.

"Okay, we have about a dozen bad guys heading right for us, plus those around us. That makes... sixteen." I heard a dying whimper from my left, and felt Rikku return to my side, a spring in her step. "Okay, fifteen then. Rikku, you remember the Gagazet waterways?"

She paused, before offering me a grin and immediately putting Baralai and myself between her and the group, which had now reached us and was moving to surround us. "Good." At Baralai's questioning look, I shook my head. "Baralai, I'll explain later. Basically, it involved lots of cleaning supplies, copious amounts of alcohol, some chicken, and a pile of dead piranhas. For now, just do as I do, alright?" He nodded, trusting my judgement on this. "Okay, go!"

I swivelled to the left, Baralai mirroring my move a moment later. I pushed to the outside of the group, which had by now spread to our six-o'clock. I swiped at the most exposed of the shades, missing it by a hair's breadth but forcing it back. I continued round to the outside, using as much magic as I dared to put a little extra spring in my step and a real kick to my blows. The next faux-dog I reached took but a glancing blow to the side, yet was thrown a good ten feet back by the magic I forced into and _through_ my sword. Another quick sidestep, and reactionary swing across my body from left to right, and another of the shades was forced back to the centre.

Baralai had been doing much the same on the other side, and by now the group, which was not ten seconds before surrounding us, had been bunched up in a small group, confused as to which one of us to strike at.

It was Rik's time to shine.

She had been busy pulling whatever she could from her seemingly-bottomless belt pouch, and mixing it all together in the most suitable container she could find - in this case, a water flask dropped by one of the deceased guards. The concoction she was making - or rather botching, as she had not come fully prepared for it – was one which she, Wakka and I had dubbed 'Roja's Revenge', after the famous Kilika Rum brand. On the pilgrimage, we had a had a few bottles of the potent spirit tucked away, and, when diving in the waterways of Gagazet, had found an unexpected use for it. Surrounded by piranhas, as well as larger and far more threatening beasts, we had had to come up with a rushed, yet highly effective, solution. Wakka and I would herd in the enemies, and Rikku would throw in a flask of this curious mixture, containing garden fertiliser, brake cleaner, and – of course – a few measures of Roja's Special 60 per cent proof.

Confused? You see, these substances all had one thing in common; they are highly flammable.

So, mixing them all together, then throwing in a little bomb fragment with a delayed fuse, you had yourself one dangerous grenade. If the explosion itself didn't kill the fish, then the scorching water would. We didn't get cold in those waterways, that's for sure. And we had a lot of boiled fish for dinner.

So, when Rikku wheeled around, arm cocked and container in hand, a lightbulb went off in my head.

Baralai hadn't seen _this_ before.

"Take cover!" I screamed at him, diving to the side as the flask hurtled end-over-end toward the thoroughly confused group of shades. The bomb fragment offered a momentary flash, before the cocktail showed it's potential.

The fireball rendered the shades nothing but ashes, and seared the skin on the back of my neck where I hadn't ducked enough. I heard cries of surprise from the others in our group, and saw them all – the other Gullwings plus Ganst and the Lieutenant – make slightly-too-late moves for cover. Luckily for them, they were all out of the kill zone, though I'm sure there were a few burns and watering eyes among them. The other shades, some of whom were looking a little worse for wear, reacted rather badly to the shot, reeling back in surprise and offering us all a moment to collect ourselves.

"Alright, that's enough of that!" I called to them, getting to my feet only a little gingerly, my skin a little more sore than expected. "From now on, we work as a team, eh? Drive them back!"

Hearing no argument, I returned my attention to the now-regrouped shades. They had taken heavy losses, but it seemed more than twice that number had turned up in reinforcement. As that thought passed through my brain, I saw another couple dozen come pouring around the corner.

And my neck _hurt_, dammit!

As if reading my mind, I felt a soft hand rub in a palmful of potion to the sore flesh, cooling it and easing the pain instantly. Rikku then clocked me on the back of the head, snapped "Duck faster next time!" and moved into position on our right flank.

Baralai laughed openly at my misfortune and moved to her side, receiving a conspiratorial wink from her.

Yuna stepped up on my left, sporting a fetching bruise spreading across the right side of her face and neck. "Okay, we push them back. Everyone, get ready!" Her rallying call brought us all level with her, weapons raised. Slightly behind us, I could see a pair of late-arriving guards standing at ease, each holding a very useful bit of kit.

"You two," I said, pointing at them. They motioned to salute, but I cut them off. "Front line. Use those flamethrowers at will." They nodded, taking up position alongside us as we all moved to give them room.

After all, that was one crossfire you wouldn't find me caught in.

The beasts rushed forward almost as one, but we were much better prepared for them this time. I felt minor magics spring forth around me as the others prepared themselves. Steadying myself, I decided to even the odds just a little further.

Concentrating my will, and allowing the desired effect to take full precedence in my mind, I closed my eyes. Falling into an old mantra I had long become accustomed to, I set my rhythm, feeling the tingling magic build up inside me to almost overwhelming levels. Just before it could break loose in a display of wild magic, I thrust my off-hand forward and felt a wave of power leave it. The enemies closest to us slowed their approach dramatically, their perception of time greatly reduced.

That was always a pretty useful spell. Needless to say, the first wave was dealt with swiftly.

I knew that I couldn't recover fast enough to repeat the spell with the next batch of shades, so I moved my mind away from the mantra as fast as I could, returning my attention to the onrushing hounds.

The first one came flying at me at waist-height, and I sidestepped as fast as I dared, sword flashing is it spilled the creatures' wispy guts over the floor. The next came too quickly for me to strike, so I dodged, diving back the way I had come. Another came at me from my front, causing me to swipe at it and lose focus on the one that was now behind me.

I needn't have worried. Twin cracks of noise broke from my left as Yuna neatly put the threat down.

We tried to push further forward still, yet after another minute or two of fighting it felt like we had moved nowhere. And the flow of enemies, if anything, had increased. We had all begun to struggle with the load, and were relying ever more on our teamwork and disruptive magic to stay ahead of the opposition.

It was only a matter of time before someone made a costly mistake.

The Gullwings and I, having fought alongside each other many times before, worked like a well-oiled machine. Well, I had never fought by Paine's side before, but we picked up on each others' cues fast enough. However, with our vision tunnelled, we drifted away from Baralai and his guards.

As I traded places with Yuna, moving myself closer to the creatures to engage them directly as she retreated to take them down with some well-placed shots, a cry of pain drew our attention to the other group. A shade had leapt up onto one of the newly-arrived guards, snapping at his face. He stumbled backwards, using one arm to try and push it away while bashing his gun against the side of its body in desperation. Finding his attempts futile, he made one last, desperate attempt. He pointed the gun back at himself, toward the shade, and pulled the trigger.

A bout of flame left the weapon, searing the side of the creature as it clung onto his neck desperately, biting into his exposed shoulder in rage. He continued to pull the trigger, but the pain and weight of the shade put his aiming off, and he fired it at himself. The smell of charred flesh and his screams turning to wet squelches told us that he had inhaled the flames and burnt himself from the lungs out.

Taking advantage of the newly-opened gap in their defences, the other hounds pressed in. Our group tried to make our way over to assist, but we were met by a wall of shades barring our path. We could only watch helplessly as they moved in for the kill.

Five of them converged on Baralai, keeping him out of the action as he put all of his effort into holding them off. The others, a more than a dozen of them, pushed towards the remaining guard, the Lieutenant and Ganst. Swords flashing, and muzzle flaming, they held them off as best they could, taking a pair of them down before the second guard fell. Ganst and his Lieutenant had clearly battled together for a long time, as they worked in perfect synchronisation, twisting around each other, this way and that, attacking and blocking for their brother in arms in a dance of death. They worked the enemies' number down, but more would continue to join all the time. Ganst's elegant rapier, joined by the Lieutenant's simpler shortsword, slew a score of shades in almost as few seconds.

Many more shades held themselves back; they were toying with them.

Finally, no less than fifteen rushed them at once. After a momentary pause, as he reached for something on his belt, the Lieutenant made a drastic decision. He shoved Commander Ganst to the floor, before throwing himself in the opposite direction as the shades swarmed onto him.

For a moment, the only sound was the growls of the shades as they tore into him. One second, two, then three passed. Just as the Commander was picking himself up, with Baralai rushing to his aid, the Lieutenant's plan became clear.

The huge group of shades surrounding his body were thrown backwards by a massive explosion, the bodies closest to him simply vaporised in the blink of an eye. Those further away were forced backwards, clearing enough of a path that our group – which was just outside the blast radius – could charge our way through to help Baralai and Ganst, who had both been caught by shrapnel and were down.

I reached Ganst first, and crouched next to him, rolling him onto his back. He choked slightly, and I lifted his torso up. Rikku appeared by his other side, patting him on the back. Seeing he would be cared for, I whirled back to the battle, only to find that the shades had retreated, leaving just the shredded remains of our own losses.

They had definitely been toying with us.

Feeling a dark sense of foreboding, I returned to Ganst and Rikku, offering him a simple potion. He drank it heartily, thanking me before his shoulders sagged.

"Lieutenant Bayen was a good man," he murmured, his head bowed. "He would have to be, to do something like that. I knew what he was going to do, as soon as he grabbed that grenade and looked at me. He had always been a bit like that, putting those of a higher rank first. He was a good soldier."

I allowed myself to join him in a brief moment of mourning for a man whose name I had only heard following his demise. It was all too brief however, for we had work to do.

He shook his head, before pushing us off and rising to his feet. "We suffered a great many losses today. I shall have to return to the command centre and discuss reinforcements with my staff."

With that, he walked off, stopping only briefly to check on the now-standing Baralai.

We all trudged back up towards the surface, meeting up with the other group on the way. They had fared slightly better, suffering no losses outside of a few guards who had joined up with them. Despite their presence to prop us up, we all found the route a lot harder on the way back. The adrenaline which had filled all our bodies for the past – you know, I'm not even sure how long it had been. Regardless, the adrenaline which had kept us going, kept us _living_ in that battle had left in a rush, leaving us all lethargic and down. The walk back felt like climbing a mountain.

We all went straight for the meeting room, collapsing into the chairs dotted around the centre table. One look at those who had stayed behind told us that they had at least caught the gist of it, most likely through the commspheres Shinra had had installed in the Bevelle underground. They could only offer helpless pats on the back and pitying looks.

Not caring who saw or what they thought, I took the seat next to Rikku's, and moved it right up against hers. I put my arm around her, pulling her closer to me. She snuggled straight into me, shaking slightly from the exertion and despair. I shushed her, rubbing her back, and she pulled in even closer, kicking her legs onto my lap.

She kept me grounded. She always had, and, I hoped, always would.

I thought back to what Lieutenant Bayen had done. I considered the sacrifice he had made, knowingly giving his own life to improve the odds of survival for the man he admired. There were no assurances; he could not have been certain that his plan would work, but he knew that, if he had not changed the odds, they would both have died. I wondered if I could do that for those I cared for.

It was a no-brainer. I squeezed Rikku to me, settling my hand on her waist after. There was no doubt in my mind.

_Yes. _And I would do it a million times over.


	18. Chapter 15: Morpheus

_A/N: This chapter has given me a lot of issues. I simply could not find a second scene which satisfied me and moved the story in the direction which I wanted it to, so I completely reworked it from top-to-bottom. Hence, major delay._

_However, I am really rather pleased with the opening sequence. Here goes._

_Disclaimer: I do not own FFX or X-2._

* * *

_Mistake_

_Chapter 15: Morpheus_

_It was a dance of death._

_Strike, retreat, evade, evade, strike, move, evade, take a hit, heal, evade, strike._

_Seymour, his vessel carrying him across the battlefield far more rapidly than I or any of the other guardians could move, let alone the summoner we worked to defend, treated the battle almost as if it were a game. He taunted us, feeding our rage and drawing us into mistakes. Kimahri he had caught out right at the start, enticing the Ronso into a mad charge which he casually put down. Kimahri was noticeably struggling with the resulting hole in his shoulder, which had resisted Yuna's attempts at healing it, but to his credit he kept on fighting._

_Finding myself with a moment to breathe, I quickly drank a potion or two before taking stock of our party. Simply put, it didn't look good. Seymour was too fast and too powerful for us, managing to repeatedly isolate one of our number from the rest of the group and dealing them some serious hurt. Everyone was visibly tiring._

_Seymour and his vessel dove forward, forcing us all to take evasive action lest we be turned into paté by his lance and magic. Righting myself, I felt a twisting in my gut; myself and Auron had been split from the rest, and Seymour had blocked their route to us._

"_Any suggestions?" I asked Auron, briefly glancing to my left. His posture projected calm and composed, but I could tell that he was beginning to become very agitated with the situation. You can always tell when Auron is agitated, once you know the signs. The most obvious of these was the fact that he kept fiddling with his sword, itching to strike. A twitchy Auron is a dangerous Auron. I edged away slightly._

_He remained silent for a long moment, as my attention returned to Seymour. He had swung around to face us, having succeeded in preventing any outside rescue effort. Small pinpricks of light began to gather around his form as he prepared to cast._

"_Go high," came Auron's voice, soft yet managing to carry the short distance between us without trouble. I had no time to argue, as Seymour unleashed his spell._

_I rolled to my right as Auron did the same to our left, allowing the crackling ball of lightning to pass between us. I felt a vile shockwave as it went past, residual traces of the magic prickling my skin and sending my left arm into a spasm. I ignored it, the months of brutal training and endless fights for our lives had hardened us to all but the most debilitating pain. I broke into a run toward the rock face on my right, as Auron engaged Seymour head-on, provoking him and drawing his attention. He would be able to buy me all but a few seconds._

_Luckily, a few seconds would be all that I would need._

_As I approached the rock face, I allowed my vision to tunnel, touching that knot of power within myself that allowed me to have control over the most natural force in all over Spira: magic. I accessed it in ways I had only touched on briefly with Auron in the past, during lost hours earlier in the pilgrimage as he helped to hone my improvisational skills, precisely for this type of bind. This kind of magic had no name and general designation; it had no formula, it was no particular spell. I just tapped into that core of power, wove my intent around it, and _pushed_. The magic sent a thrilling tingle down into my legs, injecting a mass of raw energy and allowing me to scale the wall at a dead run. _

_This was the kind of magic that one would only usually be able to tap into during moments of extreme rage and duress, yet here I was using it at will. The sheer elation of it all almost broke my concentration. Almost._

_It all happened in the blink of an eye._

_I arced up the slope, forcing myself to reach the optimum point before I executed what would doubtlessly be an extremely dangerous and stupid manoeuvre. However, if it worked, it could yet change the tide of the battle._

_At the peak of my arc, I took one final giant step forward before planting my feet on the wall, momentarily defying gravity as my feet kept their purchase on the rocky overhang, and sent a final burst of force directly through my legs as I _jumped_. The vast amount of energy that I had forced through my feet caused the overhang to crack, falling towards the earth a moment later. However, by that point I was long gone, the magically-enhanced jump sending my body head-first across the battlefield like a missile._

_I kept my focus on the target, suppressing a scream of pain from my feet as I cracked a number of my metatarsals with the brute force of the jump. I kept my eyes on the prize – Seymour._

_He never saw me coming._

_Amidst shouts of surprise and concern from my friends, I landed with a grunt on top of Seymour's vessel. Knowing I had but moments, I dropped into the centre of the cage that housed the 'juicy bits'._

_Not knowing what to hit, but reasoning that anything that didn't look rock solid was a good bet, I let myself go into a hacking and slashing frenzy, taking swipes at a number of delicate-looking magical constructs. From the screams of pain emanating from Seymour in front of me, it seemed to be working._

_Suddenly, I found myself flying through the air once more, this time involuntarily. Seymour had somehow expelled me, flinging me in an arc towards the edge of the cliff. I was never going to touch down before hurtling over the edge, let along actually stopping myself._

_Miraculously, I impacted against a magical barrier which formed just metres before the edge of the cliff. Well, I say miraculously; it bloody well hurt, and I wouldn't be moving freely anytime soon, but it was definitely better than going over that edge. Belatedly, I realised that Yuna must have been casting it, as she was standing a good thirty metres away, aiming her staff in my direction with a look of deep concentration on her face._

_I hauled myself to my my feet, downing the last of my potions and feeling it instantly go to work holding my feet together. They would hurt like nothing I'd ever felt before later, but it would tide me through the rest of the battle. I picked up my sword – which had also been stopped by Yuna's barrier – and rejoined the fight._

_Seymour appeared to have gathered himself, though he looked a little worse for wear. There were abrasions and dents all along his armour where the damage I had inflicted on the core of his power had translated into damage to his magical armour. I was about to turn and send a grin at the others, when that grin turned to an expression of horror._

_Before my very eyes, the damage I had inflicted was healing itself. And not slowly, at that. In just mere seconds, all evidence of my desperate attack had disappeared, and Seymour looked as good as new. Well, aside from the fact that he looked severely pissed-off._

"_Foolish child. You thought I could be felled so easily?" he taunted, revelling in the shock that was plainly visible on all our faces. "Now watch; I shall take great pleasure in taking from you what you hold most dear."_

_With those words, he sent out a wave of pure force that knocked us all back a couple of yards. Then he set himself, and began casting something far more elaborate than anything he had thrown at us before now. Magic swirled into a gust around him, an aura of power becoming distinctly visible as it engulfed his entire form. I had to shield my eyes in order to maintain a visual on him. And then, he struck._

_Twin pillars of energy formed on either side of him, power arcing between the two of them like lightning. From them came spears of light, dozens of them, homing in on each of us faster than we could pick the targets out. I ducked, rolled, and spun, but it was an altogether futile effort as I was struck by the fourth beam, knocking me off-balance and into the fifth, before I could avoid them no longer and another trio struck me in the sternum, knocking me to the ground and kicking the wind out of me._

_Before any of us could recover, however, Seymour's next salvo came. What could only be described as a swarm of homing missiles dropped from his vessel, flying through the air towards us and exploding in great balls of fire as soon as they got near. These could not be avoided, their blast radii simply too large to escape from. All of us were knocked off our feet and back a number of steps, and I didn't think Lulu or Kimahri would be getting up anytime soon._

_I forced myself to my feet, using the last of my energy to create a magical shield in front of myself and my neighbours in a desperate attempt to survive the next round. Rikku and Wakka – the two nearest to me, huddled behind it and gave me something to lean on as exhaustion crept in. I saw Yuna doing the same with Auron a good twenty yards away._

_However, Seymour appeared to back off, swooping around away from us all, before coming back at us at pace and discharging a huge amount of energy down on top of us. My shield could bear no more than the initial impact, and the ensuing explosion had us all down for the count._

_As I groggily tried to get my bearings, I spotted Seymour approaching the area where I lay. He drew his lance, looked me dead in the eye, and _smirked_. I felt sheer rage engulf me as the very last of my reserves spread into my limbs and I launched myself up from the ground, only to find his lance heading in my direction._

_However, his lance never struck. I swung my sword down on his head, cleaving it from his shoulders in one clean blow. His arms, which had been twisting up and seemingly towards me, went limp, and his vessel imploded. In a shower of pyreflies, he was banished._

_I turned to the others, once again expecting to see relief only to be met by horror. They were all looking to where Seymour's lance had struck, the true nature of his dying blow being revealed._

_Rikku's body lay in a growing patch of vermilion snow, the lance still protruding from her belly. It had gone straight into her gut, and, left like that, she may have been healed fairly easily. After all, a number of us had been partially skewered over the past months, only to be back fighting again within a few hours. However, rather than protecting himself, Seymour had used the last thrust of his arms to _twist_ the lance, ripping the centre of her torso to shreds. I felt my head start to spin._

* * *

I jolted awake, taking in a great gasp of air. A wave of nausea overtook me, and I leant over the side of the sofa to empty the contents of my stomach. A few minutes of heaving later, my head stopped spinning and my stomach stopped churning enough for me to raise my head and take in my surroundings.

It had been a tense few hours as we licked our wounds. The dead had to be recovered, the injured healed and new contingency plans put into place. Fortunately, the shades had stayed quiet, apparently retreating to the great chamber and staying there.

I rolled my shoulders, the muscles smarting from the exertion of the last forty-eight hours. After that extremely intense skirmish, Brother, Paine, Gippal and I had spent a good few hours carrying men back from the underground and to either the sick bays or the morgue, depending on their conditions. We would leave no man behind to be swallowed up by those beasts.

After that, we had all retired to our various corners. I had barely sat down on the sofa before I had fallen into a fitful slumber.

I swung my legs over the side of the sofa, stretching as I did so, only to catch a whiff of my own vomit and recoiling in disgust. Coughing away the smell, I moved to the small kitchenette to find something to clean it up with. A quick water spell into a bucket and some improvisation with a deceased officers' sleeping bag later and I was on my hands and knees mopping it up.

The manual work, both now and before, had given me some time to think and reflect. I couldn't help but critique our own performance against that of the shades. Though they were not overwhelmingly strong as individuals, they worked well in groups and seemed to learn from our tactics throughout the skirmish. In the tight confines of the corridors we were able to effectively funnel them and keep their numbers in check, but they were incessant and instantly exploited any weakness in our defence. Though those of us who had either been on the pilgrimage or had helped fight off Vegnagun were quite capable of holding our own, the same could not be said of the common Bevelle footsoldier. They had been unable to take the shades out quickly enough in order to combat their numbers, and had quickly been overwhelmed. This was evidenced by the sheer number of dead bodies that Paine, Gippal, Brother and I had together carried up to the morgue.

All in all, it didn't look good for Spira if we were unable to contain them to the Bevelle underground.

And, above all else, I couldn't shake the impression that they had been toying with us. Perhaps they simply wished to assess what level of threat we posed. Again, I couldn't help but feel that we had been found lacking.

I swore to myself that I would never let them feel that again. They would be shaking in their boots by the time I was done with them.

The mess I had made on the floor now cleaned up, I washed out the makeshift towel and bucket in the sink before picking my way over the deep-sleeping bodies of Brother and Gippal. Tiptoeing past their heads, I suppressed a snort at their sleeping positions. Having apparently decided that the floor looked extremely comfortable, they had fallen asleep within arms' reach of each other. However, in their sleep they had unconsciously joined closer, culminating with Brother virtually spooning his shorter Al Bhed comrade. Oh, the things I'd give to see their faces when they woke up.

Still chuckling to myself, I entered the meeting room in higher spirits. It was a mirror of the break room, with people curled up asleep both on the chairs and on the floor. This included Rikku, who was curled up like a cat on the floor by the wall, her head resting on a bundled-up jumper. I walked over to her, grabbing a jacket from someone's luggage pile and laying it over her. She nestled into it further, resting easy. I smiled slightly, giving her hair a pat. As she leaned into my touch, I couldn't help myself and gave her forehead a quick kiss. She curled in yet further, and made a small noise of protest as I pulled away. Definitely like a cat.

Unlike the break room, there were a few people awake here. I made my way over to the corner where Yuna, Paine, Nooj and Baralai were talking quietly amongst themselves.

Grabbing a chair and swivelling it into their circle between Yuna and Paine, I straddled it and rested my tired head on my crossed arms, propped up by the back of the chair. They all offered greetings with various degrees of welcome. Nooj was all business, and his attitude had clearly rubbed off on Baralai, though the New Yevon leader looked really rather stressed, though that was quite understandable given the situation. Paine offered me a brief upturn of her lips before going back to the conversation, and Yuna – who apparently felt she had little to add at their conversations' current junction, moved closer to me.

"Are you okay?" she asked, putting the back of her hand to my forehead and eyeing me concernedly. I guess I must have looked a wreck, what with the lack of sleep and the hurling. I tried to put her at ease.

"I'm fine," I lied, sending a smile at her.

Unfortunately for me, she'd seen this act before. "Liar," she countered, though there was no sting in it. In fact, she seemed to take comfort in being able to read me. "You look like you just got trampled by every last one of Clasko's chocobos. Twice." With that, she couldn't help herself and had to clasp her hand over her mouth to contain her giggle.

I mock-glared at her. "So I didn't sleep to well. It's no big deal," I responded, seeing her sober up and the concerned expression return to her face. "Besides, we have work to do, right?"

My distraction seemed to work. "Yes, of course," she said quickly, before sighing. "I suppose I should fill you in." She turned fully to face me, and I sat up straighter, giving her my full attention. "Thirty men and women are left unaccounted for, either due to missing dog tags or lack of any body." She swallowed, seemingly keeping down the bile by sheer force of will. "We can only assume that the shades have either taken their bodies or otherwise consumed them."

She shook her head, fighting off the images assaulting her mind. "We have called in all backup regiments from all corners of New Yevon's reach, and they are arriving steadily as we speak. One thousand more able bodies." She looked troubled by this, no doubt reflecting my earlier thoughts on how the men had fared up against the shades earlier. "Nooj and Gippal have already made plans to return to their respective headquarters in order to bring in reinforcements of their own. They will both leave within the hour."

I nodded, agreeing that this made sense. Though the men may have not performed particularly well against the sheer numbers that the enemy presented, they _had_ slowed the shades down somewhat. With more numbers, they may just be able to hold them back whilst those of us with more experience drove them back.

It was a long shot, but it might just work.

However, I couldn't help but give voice to my concerns. "They still won't be able to do all that much against another concerted effort from those creatures, especially if they bring more numbers next time," I stated, seeing her nodding along.

"Yes, I agree. And that is why the others and I have been discussing the merits of making a counter-strike, and revisiting our earlier debates," she said matter-of-factly.

That took me by surprise. Yuna was not usually the first to push for an aggressive response.

Seemingly reading my thoughts, she laughed lightly before giving me some rope. "Yes, I have been reassessing my tactics over the past few months."

I laughed along with her, turning her words over in my head. A counter-attack was risky, but offered a great deal of potential reward. Working as a team, we had fared quite well against the shades earlier. If we took them by surprise, they may lack their strongest trait – their organisation – leaving the deck stacked in our favour.

However, this would mean pushing into their territory through the front door. A front door which was likely heavily guarded and which would most certainly leave us sitting ducks as soon as we walked in. Besides, they had before demonstrated just how dangerous they were in Vegnagun's chamber, what with its thin walkways and huge drops.

"That's a fair point. They worked together as a team before, using their numbers to good effect and ganging up on us. If we can take them by surprise, they may go into a panic and stop acting as a team." She nodded, looking pleased. The others had stopped talking and turned our way, seemingly awaiting my take on their idea. "On the other hand, we could get torn to pieces as soon as we walk into that chamber."

"That was my concern," said Paine. "They proved themselves to be absolutely formidable down there earlier. Waltzing in the front door would do us no good."

"With all of us there, we could push them back," interjected Nooj confidently, banging his closed first on his knee.

"Maybe yes," began Baralai, "maybe no. Head-on against their full force? Probably not. But if we can find a way to get in behind them, then we may stand a chance."

We all fell silent, deep in thought. I turned what we knew about the shades over in my mind. They had themselves bedded into the chamber, likely watching both the doors we had previously tried. Blowing those doors open may give us a moments' reprieve, but it would likely not be enough of an advantage to truly take them down.

I walked over to where Shinra's holographic representation of the Bevelle underground was still floating, slowly rotating a few inches above the table. It had a number of markers laid down on it at important sites, with two red flags set outside the two main doors to Vegnagun's chamber.

There were a few side doors, but almost all of them lead only to small balconies. The only untried door that was marked on the map was a small service tunnel, running into the bottom of the chamber. There was a great deal of pipework down there, and the tunnel had apparently been created to allow maintenance access to it, perhaps dating back to the original construction of Vegnagun.

So, this tunnel was the only other clear option for entering the chamber. However, though it may offer a few moments, if not minutes, of cover and time to set up, once they did discover us it would be an absolute killzone. They would have the higher ground, and would be quite capable of surrounding us on all sides. Once we had nowhere to go, they would be able to pick us off one-by-one.

No, that route was not an option.

My mind took me back to Nooj's earlier suggestion about heading through the Farplane to get around the back of the shades. Though we had no idea how clear the path to them may be, it surely offered a better pathway than the front doors and the service tunnel. His and Paine's suggestions had been the only ones to make sense, but we were all a little more reluctant to push forward with them now, despite being about to put them to the vote earlier. Meeting the shades in direct combat had put us on the back foot mentally as much as it did physically.

And of course, letting them come to us would be suicidal.

I checked a few reports which had been left on the table, confirming what I suspected.

Mind set, I walked back over to them.

"We really don't have a choice in the matter," I began, cracking my knuckles. "We take our best fighters, and we go in the back way; we push through the farplane."

Yuna and Baralai agreed immediately, liking the idea. Paine and Nooj seemed to turn it over in their heads, before they too nodded thoughtfully. However, Nooj clearly had his reservations.

"Perhaps we may be able to hurt them, but it would leave us extremely vulnerable here in Bevelle. If they can hold off our infiltration force with less than their full potential, then they will have free reign to strike at the heart of our capital." Nooj's counter pulled the others up short, but I had already thought of a way around that.

"Yes, they may. That is why none of you faction leaders will be on that infiltration team." Before they could voice their protests, I continued, "Hear me out. You are already planning to go back to your various headquarters and bring every able-bodied fighter you can. We set up a wall of men, organised this time and managed by the three of you, and cut them down at the bottleneck. Any attempts they make to push forward that way will result in massive casualties. Besides, I have checked the scouting reports we requested and all the other fayth chambers have remained quiet."

"It is curious," offered Paine. "That they would seek only to force their way through this exit. Perhaps we have received a lucky break." She turned to me. "You said, Tidus, that they took what they knew from Shuyin?" I nodded quickly. "Then perhaps we have been fortunate. Perhaps he only knew of this entrance, as that's the route which Yuna used to leave the farplane after her rather abrupt appearance there." Yuna blushed lightly, averting her eyes. Amused, Paine continued, "We may be able to exploit this and catch them off-guard."

Yuna now appeared to have her own doubts. "But they tore Bevelle's finest apart earlier. They will do exactly the same to the other men, perhaps even worse if they really throw their weight forward."

"There will always be losses. However, I don't see any way we could further minimise them. We have to cut these bastards down, and we need to do it fast," I shot back.

"Perhaps I can offer a solution," a new voice said from behind me. I turned, but saw nothing. Confused, I looked down, only to find Shinra just a couple of feet away. Man, that guy is small.

He walked over to the table and, surprising us all, vaulted straight up onto it. Pressing a few keys next to the slowly-rotating holographic representation of the underground, he brought up a detail view of the pipework at the bottom of Vegnagun's chamber. "These pipes here carry the cooling fluid required by the power cores of the various massive machina of Bevelle – such as the Gaol – back and forth from the main cooling exchangers. It is held at a constant pressure of 50 bar. By the time it reaches Vegnagun's chamber, the coolant in the pipe here -" he pointed to the largest pipe, one which ran all the way from halfway up the wall on the nearside down to an area very close to the location of the abyss "- is superheated to more than thirteen-hundred kelvin."

"Your point, Shinra?" asked Nooj impatiently, receiving a kick in the shin from Paine in response. He ignored her glare as Shinra continued.

"The various valves within the pipes are controlled centrally from the main barracks area. The coolant is already pushing the pipes very close to their design limits as it is. If I can reconfigure the valve network and route all the hot coolant to that one pipe, it will exceed those limits by a significant margin." He explained, as if that would be sufficient information.

However, not all of us were child prodigies in both magical physics and machina engineering.

Seeing our blank looks, he seemed to realise that we had not made the leap in logic. "Big explosion," he finished lamely.

My mouth formed an 'O' as I contemplated the possible ramifications of this revelation. Paine put voice to my thoughts.

"If Shinra can do this, then it may send them into a panic. They try to push out the door, which we conveniently open shortly after the explosion. They rush out, being cut down by our men who are waiting in ambush. Once they realise they are outnumbered, they will try to pull back, only to find that they are under attack from two sides." She stopped, suddenly smirking. "I like it."

Seeing that we had reached a consensus, Baralai stood. "Then we are in agreement?" he asked, receiving nods and affirmative grunts in response. "Good. Then I will wake our friend Gippal, and we can put this into motion." As he left, Nooj stood, bidding us farewell and good luck. We echoed him, and he limped through the door and out of sight.

Yuna's adrenaline had clearly kicked in, as she quickly sprang to her feet and began discussing with Shinra which pathway would serve as the best route for us to take into the farplane. Paine and I stood more slowly, an unspoken agreement taking our feet out of the meeting room and into the corridor. We walked together to the break room, quietly making our way over to the window that looked out over the Bevelle skyline as the first streaks of a beautiful dawn began to appear on the horizon.

We stood in companionable silence for a few minutes, simply taking in the view. And what a view it was. There was too much bad blood between Bevelle and I for me to ever hold any affection for the capital city of Spira, but that didn't stop it being a sight to behold.

The splendour of the Palace of St Bevelle stood to our right, rising high into the sky and glowing a faint orange as the early-morning sun reflected off its marble surfaces long before it fell on the rest of Bevelle. Next to it, and looking modest by comparison, was the Temple. The dirty laundry it housed had remained secret to this day, Yuna and her remaining guardians apparently agreeing that they had best remain unknown, if only to prevent open revolt against New Yevon. It was just one more secret to add to Bevelle's list.

To the other side, we could see the residential area to the south-west stretching far into the distance. Thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people lived there, with just as many on the opposite side of town. They were now all in their homes, completely unaware of the crisis taking place on their doorsteps.

I thought of Rikku – dear, sweet Rikku – sleeping soundly down the hall. I thought of Yuna, who would be so devastated when she found out that I was head over heels in love with her cousin, and her cousin with me.

For once, I could understand why Bevelle kept its secrets. Sometimes, knowledge could be a bad thing. Ignorance was bliss, and all that.

But Bevelle was wrong. We needed to stop lying to each other and to Yuna.

Feeling a steely determination rise within me, I turned from the view of the skyline. I met Paine's calculating gaze evenly, seeing a grudging acceptance and – dare I say it – respect there. Moment gone, she turned her eyes back to the window.

I walked away from her, head held high.

_And about bloody time, too._

* * *

_A/N: Not the most eventful chapter, I know. However, it was necessary in order to link the two chapters either side of it and to set the scene for the conclusion of act two._

_Stay tuned._


	19. Chapter 16: Spark

_A/N: A big bunch of chapters coming up here. This is, once again, more of a scene-setter. However, I think you may like the content somewhat more than the previous chapters._

_Also, a big delay (8 months to be precise); as ever, my apologies. Since my last update, I have finished up at work, moved back to uni, worked harder than I have since I joined uni, and began work on a truly fascinating engine design project that will, hopefully, have a genuine product coming out of the other end of it. Exciting stuff. _

_The bulk of this chapter was written in the autumn, before I hit a truly epic bout of writer's block. However, one positive did come from it: I've done another play-through of FFX (and let me tell you, it was right satisfying to be doublecasting -aga magic during the second fight with Seymour – that was new!), and found a little inspiration, particularly for the opening sequence of this chapter. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own FFX or X-2._

* * *

_Mistake_

_Chapter 16: Spark_

As it turned out, I wasn't alone in believing it was time.

"Hey," I greeted her with a smile just outside the operations room. Rikku had been standing there, a little bleary eyed and with her hair all over the place, apparently having just awoken. As soon as she heard my greeting, however, her eyes came into sharp focus and a light appeared to come on inside her head. After a beat, she grabbed my hand and began dragging me by it away from the room.

I had no idea where she was taking us, but she appeared to have a little more information regarding the layout of the area. She pulled me through three junctions, over a short bridge over a seemingly-bottomless chasm, and through a small storage area – much to the befuddlement of the store worker - before, finally, opening a side door and walking into a small, windowless room. The room was populated by a number of small desks, all facing a whiteboard on the front wall of the room. We had, apparently, stepped into one of the guards' training classrooms.

I raised my eyebrow at her in silent question, but she just shrugged. "I have no idea where we are, but it's quiet and away from the others," she explained. I nodded, accepting the explanation. I suppose she hadn't had in impromptu tour of the facility, then.

I looked at her seriously, and she seemed to get the point. Walking over to one of the desks in the front row, she sat down on top of it, leaning forward on her arms and appearing attentive. I smiled, appreciating the gesture.

"Right, it's about time we had it out, okay? No more games."

She nodded, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. As I propped myself up against the lecturer's desk, my mind was transported back to the only other time we had ever tried to confront the proverbial elephant which had been in the room with us since day one.

* * *

_Base Camp, Zanarkand Ruins_

_8.14pm_

_The sun had almost made its way beyond the horizon. I sat on top of the mount of dirt and rubble, taking in Spira's Zanarkand._

_It had only really sunk in today that the Zanarkand which I had known and loved, the Zanarkand which had been my home for seventeen years, had never existed outside of the fayth's great dream. Sure, Bahamut had told me as such, but seeing it sprawled out before me was something completely different to being told it during a magically-induced slumber._

_I'd be lying if I said it hadn't hurt. Despite all that I had learned, despite how much I had grown attached to Spira and those that resided within it, there had always been a childish part of me that just wanted to return home. Stupid, I know, but I'm only human._

_As I rested my elbows on my knees and took in the view, I heard someone trudge their way up the hill. Not really paying attention to it, I jumped when the climber dropped themselves down next to me._

"_Hey," greeted Rikku. "How are you holding up?"_

_I looked away, muttering "I'm fine," at her unconvincingly. At her snort, my eyes shot back to meet her unbelieving gaze. "'Not going to work on you', right?"_

_She chuckled lightly, nodding. I sighed resignedly, turning my body to face her. "Zanarkand, my Zanarkand... it's really doesn't exist, does it?" I knew I sounded like a petulant child, but I couldn't help it. Besides, she'd understand._

_I had cast my eyes downward during my question, not quite able to look her in the eye as I asked it. After, she gently raised my chin with her index finger, all compassion and understanding. I couldn't bear the sight of it, and turned away. Hurt, she wrapped her arms around her waist. "Look, Tidus, I know a thing or two about losing homes," she began sharply. At this, I looked up, feeling like a right bastard. She softened instantly. "Hey, don't worry about it. You're grieving, and this is what friends are for. Now come here." She finished with a grin, and opened her arms out wide, inviting me in._

_I couldn't help it, and barked out a slightly choked laugh as I let myself fall into her embrace. She held me tight, stroking my hair and whispering comforting noises in my ear._

_I don't know how long we stayed wrapped up in each other, but the next time I took notice the sun had long since disappeared and night had fallen with a vengeance. The chill had started to creep in, though we hadn't noticed it too much, our shared body heat keeping us from feeling the bite._

_I looked up at Rikku, my head in her lap, taking her in. Once again, I couldn't help but be thankful to her; through everything, she had remained my closest friend in Spira. She hadn't commented once on Macalania, or asked for any details, but I expected she knew all that she thought she needed to. I hadn't brought it up either, worried that reminding her would only serve to sever our friendship for good, and that was a result so dire that I could not even begin to consider it._

_So, it had remained taboo between us. And, to be fair, the status quo had worked thus far. We had gone back to how we were before Bikanel, before those nights lost amongst the sands, and before I had cut whatever-it-was short._

_Of course, that wasn't the only thing I hadn't been able to talk to her about. It wasn't just __Zanarkand that I had been grieving; this was the first opportunity which I'd had to truly think about my own existence, and the precarious position it was in. In fact, I hadn't yet mentioned it to __anyone, telling myself that it was best to first get my own head around it and settle myself with the idea before I started saddling others with it._

_Trouble is, I wasn't sure I'd ever come to terms with it. Maybe when it was staring me right in the face... nah, probably not._

_She could tell I was troubled; her eyes flickered over my face and body, her brow furrowed as she tried to figure out what was bothering me. When her eyes eventually returned to mine, I tried to smile reassuringly. However, by her response I was pretty sure that it appeared pretty fake._

_She settled herself down a little further, twisting sideways so that she could put her hands on either side of my face and look me dead in the eye. "Ti, what's wrong?" she asked, her voice truly concerned._

_With her staring at me like that, I almost couldn't help myself. I caught myself just before I slipped and told her everything. For if I did, there was no way she would allow me to go any farther. Most likely, she'd pin me to this very hill for the rest of my days._

_No, none of them could know. Not until it was already done._

_Seeing her still watching me, her concern quickly spiralling out of control, I realised that I had to give her something. Looking back, I definitely chose the wrong option. In my panic, my mind jumped upon the other thing I really _didn't_ want to discuss right now._

_Our taboo._

"_I never meant for it to happen," I rushed out, before my mind caught up with my mouth. Well, nearly. "I mean, I was just trying to give her some reassurance, and then it spiralled out of control and-"_

_She wrenched herself away from me, getting to her feet. Before she could turn away, I caught the look on her face, the barely-restrained fury that had written itself all over her usually happy features._

_It was clear that what I had said had fallen perfectly into one of her already-drawn conclusions, and it was not one which would have a pleasant outcome._

"_So, what is it then?" she hissed, whipping herself back toward me, her voice low as she was mindful of the others camping not far below. "Was I just a fuck-toy for you, or are you now playing Yunie's emotions? Pick one." With that, she glared at me with all her might, her all-of five foot-nothing frame twitching slightly as she held herself back from manhandling me._

_Hurt, but not surprised, by her accusation, I sputtered, "Neither. Rikku, I-"_

_She span away from me as soon as she head the first word out of my mouth. "Save it." Her tone allowed for no argument, and, as she stalked away from me back toward the camp, I felt a small part of me crumble. For her, that was it. _

* * *

We had never had the chance to discuss it again, not before I had jumped from the airship in a cloud of pyreflies and bid Spira behind for good, or so I had thought.

I braced myself against the desk as best I could, settling myself before breaking our taboo once again, two years since I had first done so, albeit accidentally. I hoped that, this time, she would be a little more willing to hear my explanations.

"You were wrong, that evening in Zanarkand. It was never either of those choices." I looked up at her, feeling slightly exasperated. Luckily, she was leaving me to it thus far. "Gods, Rikku, you know how much you mean to me; you were never a plaything to me. You're my best friend. I'd like to think that I'm a good enough human being to not do that to you, of all people.

"Yuna... I was just trying to comfort her. The girl was in hysterics, and I had no idea how to settle her back down. So, I just gave her a little kiss, right? Break her out of her rut, get her back on her feet, and away we go." I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "But, I guess she was pretty into me." At that, Rikku laughed disbelievingly, and I smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, well, I'm a teenage guy, we're pretty oblivious beasts. How was I to know that she'd jump right on it and pull me in? After that, it was pretty obvious that I couldn't just pull away and send her on her way with a pat on the head; that would only put her in even more of a depression. So, I let her continue..."

Rikku watched me closely, waiting to see if I'd keep going. When it became clear that I had run out of steam, not able to find the words to continue, she gave me a first glimpse into her response.

"So, you told her little white lies for the rest of the pilgrimage?" she asked, her voice tightly controlled and her face betraying no emotion.

Oh yeah, she was pissed _off_.

"Well, it was either that or risk breaking her heart as she strove toward what was, supposedly, her own death," I countered, barely pausing for breath. "I mean, I couldn't very well go up to her and say, 'Yuna, you're a great gal and a fantastic friend, but I'm actually in love with your cousin. Do you mind if you, you know, shift out of the way?'"

When my frenzied response received no quick reply, I checked myself and looked to Rikku, wondering what was holding her up. She was frozen, her mouth slightly open, as if she had stopped short of saying something. Her eyes were blinking rapidly, moving all over my face.

"Rikku?" I asked concernedly, moving closer to her. As I brushed one of her braids out of her eyes, she seemed to break out of her stupor.

"You..." she began, before trailing off and doing another fish impression. Swallowing, she seemed to find her voice. "You l-love me?"

My heart melted instantly. Her voice had sounded so small, so hopeful, that one knock would probably shatter her. As gently as I could, I rested my hands on her cheeks and caught her eyes with mine.

_Take a deep breath, and let it out slowly..._

_This is it._

"I do. I love you, Rikku."

Well, if ever there was a perfect time...

* * *

I could hardly keep the shit-eating grin off of my face. She sat directly across from me, as we waited for Baralai to gather his thoughts over the commsphere we'd placed on the cabin table. I fought it down as best I could, before I caught her eye and saw that she was having just as much trouble as I was.

"_I love you too."_

Hiding my happy blush behind my hands and trying my best to pass if off as tiredness, I vigorously shook my head. After all, the actions decided upon in this meeting could decide the fate of all Spira.

It was a losing battle.

"_I thought you said you hated me?" "I did... but you know how I can't stay mad at you."_

Schooling my expression with all my might, I chanced a glance up. It was no use. Within five seconds, I'd caught her eye again, she'd smiled prettily, and I was a gooey mess all over again.

_Get a grip_, I told myself.

"Alright, this is how we're going to make our move," Baralai began, finally breaking me out of my sappy stupor. His image had stopped pacing, and now stood before a three-dimensional holographic representation of a number of pathways leading down towards a central platform, a large portal burning at it's centre. "This, as you three -" he pointed to the girls "- will be aware, shows the various paths down from the chambers of the fayth to the heart of the farplane."

_That_ made me sit up and pay attention; I'd yet to lay eyes on this, only having heard a brief account of what had transpired in the land of the deceased. Yuna, seated between myself and Rikku, was staring unblinkingly at the model. I couldn't blame her; a few days ago, she had probably thought that she'd seen the last of it. Paine, leaning against the wall to the side of our table, remained impassive as ever. There was little doubt in my mind that, with Nooj and Gippal now back at their way to their respective headquarters, it had fallen upon her and Baralai to finalise the plans for this operation. I don't think any of us would have been comfortable with Leblanc being a key player in the planning of a make-or-break operation. She and her team had remained behind, electing to assist Baralai and his Palace Guard in holding the underground.

"We will need to time this well," Baralai continued. "If we blow that pipe too early, then the shades may have enough time to regroup before you make your move into their rear ranks. If we strike too late, then you may be discovered." He turned and gestured toward the model of the farplane. "Our technicians here have co-ordinated with Shinra, and generated a simulation of your expected progression down toward the abyss." As he finished his sentence, four little holographic people appeared at the top of one of the paths spiralling down. He pressed a few buttons on a panel to the side of the hologram, setting the figures into motion. "Based on our predictions, if you encounter minimal resistance then you should reach the farplane within five minutes; it is a short descent, distance-wise." As he space, the figures ran unhindered down toward the farplane abyss, stopping once they reached the bottom of the path.

"If the resistance is a little more significant -" he continued, the figures restarting their journey at the push of a button. "Then we would expect your journey to take approximately ten minutes." This time, the figures were fighting off a few packs of Aeshma, Monolith and Wight on their way down.

"Finally, if you encounter major resistance," Baralai went on, resetting the model with a sigh, "then you should expect to take twenty minutes, perhaps more." This time, fiends attacked from all sides, almost overwhelming the four models. "If this is the case, then you should retreat to somewhere where a commsphere or radio would function – namely, the chamber of the fayth – and inform us of your struggles. We shall then delay the operation, perhaps sending you over to another side." Baralai paused, looking down momentarily as he considered his words. "We cannot afford to have you hanging around the edges of their forces. We cannot risk losing any of you." He glanced at the simulation one last time before turning back to us, "We will therefore adhere to the law of averages, and set the timer for ten minutes."

We all nodded, touched by the passion in his voice. My respect for the man had grown in leaps and bounds over the past few days. When I had first met him, I had expected him to be like most of the other Yevon leader I had met in the past; a man who had a way with words and less morals than most savages. However, he had proven that he was a good man to the core, standing up for Spira in the face of an unknown threat gathering beneath his very palace. He had, it could be argued, been the one who had truly kept us all working together in these stressful times. Without him, I have little doubt that we would have had a much less co-ordinated counter for the shades.

Above all, I definitely owed him a beer for all he'd done.

He continued on, informing Yuna of the information he had received from the temples around Spira. Apparently, the fiends had all been seen fleeing from the various temples, the lands for miles around now being devoid of them. Cid had – reluctantly - picked up one of the New Yevon strike teams and taken them to Baaj Temple, allowing them to scout the area. They had also reported no sign of any fiends.

Most importantly, none of the temples had seen anything resembling the shades, despite all the chambers of the fayth being exposed and scouted.

We had, of course, chosen the Sunken Cave as our point of entry for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was the nearest available fayth entrance to Bevelle itself, with only a short airship hop over the Calm Lands to take us almost to it's doorstep. We would be able to run through the cave itself in no time, and access the chamber far more quickly than if we had to run all the way across either Besaid or Kilika Islands. Djose would have been a quick run from the airship, but, being such a great distance away to begin with, that advantage would be negated.

Besides, we hoped that the relative lack of human activity on the still-living side of the farplane portal would fail to draw the attention of the shades, giving us a clearer run down to the abyss.

"Baralai, what will you do if they overrun you?" Yuna asked him worriedly, "If even a small group of those _things_ escape into the city -"

"We will stop them, if it is the last thing we do," Baralai interrupted firmly. "If we fail, then our people will at least have some warning. The evacuation of Bevelle, though it will take some time to complete, is already well under-way." Though Baralai spoke confidently, Yuna hardly looked reassured. "Now, I must prepare my men for battle. I will carry a commsphere with me at all times, should you need to get in touch. Luck, my friends." His screen went dark.

I sat back, rubbing my face tiredly as I tried to eradicate some of the strain from the last few days. Now that the operation was finally upon us, it almost felt like a relief. The limbo that we had experienced up in that conference room had been nigh-on unbearable. After stretching my neck out, releasing a few satisfying cracks in the process, I looked around at my companions.

Yuna, she looked harried. He brows were drawn, her mouth a thin line. It was a look I had seen all too often on the pilgrimage, her caring nature leading her to prioritise her concern for others over her concern for our own mission. Paine, I hadn't yet known long enough to get an accurate read on. Her mask was set firmly in place. And Rikku... well, she appeared to be in a similar state to myself. Nervous, apprehensive even, but with a knot of happiness that could not be dimmed.

Neither of us could restrain ourselves after laying our cards on the table like that. We had kissed, hot and frantic, shortly after. It had felt like returning home once more; I hadn't truly realised quite how much I'd missed her, that longing ache that had settled into my chest more than two years ago finally lifted.

Damn, it felt good.

After a few minutes of heavy petting, we reached a unanimous decision that we were separated by far too many layers of clothes. From there, it was inevitable that we'd... devolve, and resort to our more primal instincts.

We were lucky that the room Rik had selected for our 'discussion' had been so far away from innocent ears. Neither of us held back in the slightest, and, had anyone been within shouting distance, they might have been in for a rude awakening.

Not that we wished for it to remain a secret for much longer. After a knock-out at the end of round three, we had taken the time for some pillow talk.

* * *

_New Yevon Guard Barracks_

_One hour earlier_

_We were panting heavily, her lithe form curled into my embrace as she rested in my lap. She had always been on the short side – as I was prone to reminding her – and we had both taken a liking to our current position, finding that her petite stature was a perfect fit like this. As she had so many times during those cold nights at camp during the pilgrimage, she sat astride my lap, her whole body curled into mine. I held her tightly, as if fearful that she'd disappear. Truth be told, with all that had happened, an irrational part of me was._

_Of course, when we'd done this on the pilgrimage, we'd usually been wearing more clothes and had been rather less worn-out. That certainly would have drawn some funny looks from the others._

_Stroking her bangs away from her forehead, I planted a sweet kiss there, prompting her to nestle into me even further. She sought my hand, interlacing our fingers and catching my eye. I was momentarily stunned; I hadn't seen her eyes gleam like this for a long time. The genuine elation and love that shined from them was breathtaking._

_The fact that _I _had made her that happy... Well, I hoped my Mum and Old Man could see how far I'd come..._

… _Except with more clothes on._

"_I don't want to hide this. I _won't_ hide this," I whispered as her lips quirked into a contented smile. Unable to help myself, I stole another kiss, which she returned with equal fervour. Reluctantly, I broke away, drawing a disappointed moan from her. "I want to shout it from the rooftops."_

"_Hmm... better put some clothes on first," she grinned back, shifting so that she was now straddling my lap, and settling her hips against mine with a saucy smirk. Minx._

"_I'm serious," I continued, battling to keep my concentration despite the trail of kisses she was now leaving down my neck. "I'm not going to go out there and continue that charade. It's not fair on any of us." She mumbled an affirmative into my shoulder, her hands tracing idle patterns on my chest. I retaliated, bringing my hands to her chest, making her sigh and lean herself back, giving in to the sensation._

_Unfortunately, that would be the extent of our adventure for the time being, as, just as I was about to replace my hands with my mouth, our radios crackled into life._

"_Hey Rikku, Tidus," came Buddy's voice, local interference creating a sharp white noise that made it somewhat difficult to make out his words. "Do either of you copy?"_

_Rikku huffed in frustration, agilely jumping to her feet and walking over to the pile in the corner where we'd each left our tops. With not a hint of contriteness, I noted that the rest of our clothes had been strewn all over the room. Amusingly, her bra dangled from one of the lights hanging from the ceiling._

"_Hey Buddy, this is Rikku. We're both here. What's up?" she replied into the radio, resting her free hand on her hip as she held the radio up to her face. Feeling mischievous, I got up and stood behind her, brushing her hair over one shoulder and kissing and sucking my way down the other. She leant into my touch, sighing contentedly. I wrapped my arms around her, determined to break her composure as Buddy's reply came over the speaker._

"_We're heading back to the Celsius, A-S-A-P! Yuna, Paine and Baralai finally managed to come to an agreement on the plan for our little operation, and we're heading for the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth, right now!" Buddy sounded equal parts excited and terrified. Though he hadn't taken part in the actual combat down in the Bevelle Underground, the destruction and suffering which he had bore witness to in the aftermath had clearly spooked him._

"_Copy that, Buddy. We'll meet you at the transport terminal in a minute," Rikku replied, trying to keep her voice steady as I did my best to distract her._

"_Copy. Over."_

_As soon as Buddy confirmed the conversation over, she threw the radio back down on the pile of clothes, span around in my arms and attacked my mouth with hers. But, before I could get too excited, her fervour tapered off and she finished with a series of feather-light kisses._

_Pulling away, she whispered, "We should go." I nodded begrudgingly._

_It took me a few moments to find all my clothes, but it felt all too soon that we were both standing by the door, fully-clothed, hands clasped. I gave her one last searing kiss, eliciting a contented moan from her, before turning to the door with a sigh. Rikku stopped me short._

"_Hey Ti, do you think Yunie will forgive me?" she asked, her voice quiet and concerned._

_Truly, I had no idea just how Yuna would react, besides badly. I had little doubt that she would forgive us eventually. But, on the other hand, I doubt she'd want to be anywhere near the two of us once she found out. 'Space' and 'time' would be the orders of the day._

_When I looked to Rikku, it was clear that she shared my concerns. However, like I had said before, it was about time she thought about her own happiness._

_Yuna would recover. She's far too great a woman not to._

"_Yeah, I think she will. She always does," I replied, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze._

_With that, we left the room, hand-in-hand and heads held high._

* * *

We were fast approaching the northern edge of the Calm Lands. We had passed the travel agency a while ago, and were now almost within sight of the end of the line. As I watched the ground fly past and Mt Gagazet loom larger and larger on the horizon from my perch on the deck, the wind rushing past me, I took a moment to breathe and collect myself.

It had been a roller-coaster of emotion since I had returned. With luck, this mission would bear fruit and we'd be able to force back the shades, perhaps even cut them off before they could settle themselves in the mortal world. If we failed, well... I could only hope that the three faction leaders could rally all of Spira together to fight them off.

I closed my eyes, breathing evenly. In. Out. In. Out. _Not quite_.

I opened my eyes and returned to the bridge.

Brother had been uncharacteristically silent as we had boarded, marching off to the helm with Buddy and Shinra in tow, while the rest of us had headed for the cabin. As I walked down the stairs and onto the bridge, he was staring stonily ahead, watching our approach to Gagazet and outright refusing to acknowledge the presence of the rest of the Gullwings. He was clearly terrified of what might happen, and I couldn't blame him. Buddy was in a more talkative mood, standing over Shinra's shoulder as he helped to calibrate the radio connection; as we'd be taking our radios and attempting to continue transmissions deep underground and within the farplane, they had some work to do.

Yuna and Paine were resting near our blades and munitions container, checking and re-checking their weapons. Yuna had disassembled her twin pistols, cleaning every component she could, including many which did not need to be pristine in order to operate effectively. I resolved not to disturb her, seeing the hard set of her shoulders and the hunch of her back. This must be her way of settling herself, and I had no intention of impacting on her focus.

Picking up my sword and collecting a whetstone from a bag inside the container, I went and sat next to Paine, who was sharpening her own blade. Wordlessly, I rubbed the whetstone down the edge of my sword, honing the edge as best I could whilst avoiding disturbing her, unsure as to whether she wished for company. Brotherhood, Wakka had called the sword, and the name had stuck. It had served me well throughout the pilgrimage, and I was touched to see that Yuna had kept it close at hand while on her own quest. Not only that, but she had kept it in good condition, the edge not dulled by time and the grip recently refreshed.

We sat in silence, the only sounds on the bridge being the dull hum of the engines and rushing wind, the quiet mumbling of Buddy and Shinra and the grind of stone on metal.

It took me a moment to realise that Paine had stopped sharpening her blade. I glanced over to see her throw the whetstone back into the bag and settle her sword across her lap. She gently ran her finger down the edge of her curved blade, checking it's sharpness and searching for any imperfections. When she reached the tip, she ran it back the other way. Her finger came away with a thin cut, making her grunt in acceptance. She looked my way, cocking an eyebrow at me and glancing toward Rikku, standing slightly behind Brother and staring out of the window.

It was rare to see her standing so still, such was her usual level of energy and enthusiasm. Her eyes were closed, her breathing steady. She, too, was attempting to implement the technique Auron had taught us all while we toiled our way through Macalania forest. He had claimed that we were a far from cohesive unit on the Thunder Plains, and he had been right. We had not worked as a team, merely playing to our individual strengths, with many of us trying to win the battle single-handedly. We had, above all, lacked focus in a fight.

As soon as we had cleared the endless thunderstorms and and driving rain, he had taken the younger of us in the party, namely Yuna, Rikku and myself, aside and taught us this technique. Yuna had quickly settled into it, the approach largely similar to that which she used to pray for an aeon. Rikku and I, on the other hand... we'd never been ones for meditating.

However, pain is a great motivator, and we were experiencing quite a lot of it in battle as we stumbled over each other and the rest of the party. We spent hours in the tranquil Macalania Forest evenings trying to settle ourselves, sitting by the campfire and letting the crackling of the it take us away.

Eventually, we learned, though it would always take us longer, such were our natures. Though he had his own way of showing it, I knew Auron was pleased.

She turned, bouncing on the balls of her feet as her energy returned in a flash, and caught my eye. We shared a grin, full of promises and a shared commitment. She was ready.

Seeing what we Paine and I had been doing, she strolled over and picked up her own daggers and the stone that Paine had tossed back. Taking a seat on the floor next to me, she leant against my legs, resting her head on my thigh, and began running the stone methodically down the edge.

I reached down, tangling my fingers in her hair and massaging her scalp, causing her to give an involuntary moan of pleasure.

I met Paine's gaze with a smile on my face. She returned it wholeheartedly and clapped me on the shoulder before rising and joining Buddy and Shinra.

After she left, I laid my head back against the wall and let my eyes fall closed once again. I settled my breathing, focusing on the feeling of her soft hair and scalp under my fingers.

In. Out. In. Out. My old mantra overcame me once more as time slipped away.

I opened my eyes, the light momentarily dazzling me.

I was ready.

* * *

_A/N: I hope this wasn't too sappy, but I felt that it was about time that they got themselves sorted and had a bit of a happy break. _

_Big happenings up next as arc two reaches its climax._


End file.
